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I-96 Shooter Sentenced To Prison Time In Oakland County

PONTIAC (WWJ) - A Wixom man who admitted to shooting at cars along the I-96 corridor has been sentenced to eight and-a-half to 12 years in prison.

Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Denise Langford Morris handed down the sentence on Monday, after 44-year-old Raulie Casteel had, last year, agreed to a plea of no contest but mentally ill.

Testifying in his own defense in a related case, Casteel said he did it because he believed he was battling demons, and that motorists were part of a government conspiracy against him.

Defense attorney Douglas Mullkoff asked for leniency, urging the judge the consider Casteel's mental illness, diagnosed following his arrest.

"Raulie Casteel did not choose mental illness, it chose him — and this is the hand that he was dealt," Mullkof said.

Judge  Langford Morris said that, while mental illness is a difficult challenge, one must still seek help before choosing to engage in criminal actions.

None of the shooting victims were in court for the sentencing. Casteel's family members who were present left without comment.

Casteel, last week, was convicted of terrorism and attempted murder for his role in similar shootings in Livingston County and elsewhere.  He faces up to life in prison at his sentencing in that case.

The unemployed geologist, in total, was charged in connection with two-dozen shootings along a 100-mile stretch on and near I-96 through four counties.  One person was injured.

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