SAVANNAH, Mo. — Two would-be rappers who posted a video last fall on YouTube labeled “Cop Killa” struck a deal with the state and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of disturbing the peace.

Assistant Attorney General Ted Bruce withdrew the five felony counts against Kenneth D. Black, 20, and Benjamin D. Stevens, 21, filed in September. Those felonies included two counts of tampering with a judicial officer, making a terrorist threat as well as conspiracies to commit second-degree assault and forcible rape.

The video showed the men rapping about killing police officers in Savannah and Country Club Village and Andrew County deputies. The footage also showed one of them filming police officers while on duty without the officers’ knowledge.

It was the state’s belief that neither man had any intention of carrying out the threats, Mr. Bruce said. However, officers took appropriate actions and used restraint in making the arrests, he said.

Since the state withdrew the felonies, Associate Circuit Judge Ronald Taylor accepted the pleas of the two men for committing the misdemeanors.

The judge sentenced Mr. Stevens to 90 days in jail and suspended the execution of the sentence for two years, placing him on unsupervised probation.

Mr. Taylor admonished Mr. Stevens that he expected him, not his parents, to pay all of his court costs and a $300 bill for the Missouri Public Defender’s office within 30 days or the bill would be turned over to a collection agency that would file a civil suit. Further, any violation of the law would end probation and result in incarceration, Mr. Taylor said.

Mr. Black was sentenced to 30 days in jail and placed on two years unsupervised probation. The judge suspended execution of the jail sentence, which means that if Mr. Black doesn’t break any laws, he won’t have to serve the month in jail. He also has to pay all court costs.

Attorney Tim Warren, who represented Mr. Black, asked that his client receive a fine instead of the jail time, but the judge declined to change the plea agreement Mr. Warren negotiated with the state.

Both men were ordered to write personal letters of apology to the law enforcement officers they threatened and to Associate Circuit Judge Michael Ordnung.

The Savannah Police Department investigated the original case, and some of its officers were to be the alleged victims of the two men. The department received no notice of a deal or the court hearing Tuesday.

Marshall White can be reached

at marshall@npgco.com.