Former RCMP officer Mike Ferguson has been given a conditional sentence, meaning he will not spend any more time in jail for the shooting death of a prisoner.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Ged Hawco gave Ferguson two years less a day to be served in the community.

Hawco granted a constitutional exemption, allowing him to hand down a sentence less than the four-year minimum required by law for a manslaughter conviction involving a gun.

Former RCMP officer Mike Ferguson (CP Photo)

Ferguson's lawyer Earl Wilson had argued for the exemption, saying that as a police officer he was required to carry a gun.

The Crown had pushed for a six-year sentence.

Ferguson shot and killed 26-year-old Darren Varley in the holding cell of the Pincher Creek RCMP detachment in October 1999. Varley, who had been arrested for public drunkenness, was shot once in the stomach and once in the head.

The sentencing brings to a close a case that began five years ago and took three trials to reach a conclusion. There were hung juries in Ferguson's first two trials, and in the third the jury found him guilty of manslaughter, but not of second-degree murder.

The Crown had argued that Ferguson shot Varley in a fit of rage. Ferguson said it was self defence, after Varley pulled his bullet-proof vest over his head and tried to grab his gun.

Ferguson, who had been a Mountie for almost 20 years, resigned from the RCMP Wednesday.