2 L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputies Beat Handcuffed Inmate: Federal Indictment

Source: KTLA

A federal grand jury has indicted two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who are accused of punching, kicking and pepper-spraying a chained inmate and then lying to cover up the alleged abuse.
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The charges in the February 2009 incident at the Men’s Central Jail in downtown L.A. were announced Friday by a spokesman for the Department of Justice.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies Joey Aguiar, 26, and Mariano Ramirez, 38, were due for arraignment March 6 but were not in custody Friday.

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The indictment, issued late Thursday, came less than two months after federal authorities announced charges against 18 sheriff’s officials in a collection of five cases that stemmed from an investigation into alleged civil rights abuses at county jails. One of the federal cases accuses sheriff’s officials of attempting to obstruct an FBI investigation into the alleged abuse.

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Aguiar and Mariano Ramirez allegedly used illegally force against an inmate who was in handcuffs and a waist chain. They’re accused of striking him with a flashlight in addition to beating, kicking and pepper-spraying him.

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Both defendants were charged with conspiracy to violate civil rights, deprivation of rights under color of law and falsification of records.

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A jail chaplain witnesses the alleged beating described in the indictment and filed a report and made a sworn statement to the ACLU about, the Los Angeles Times reported. The chaplain was not mentioned in the indictment.

Read more: http://ktla.com/2014/02/07/2-l-a-county-sheriffs-deputies-beat-handcuffed-inmate-federal-indictment/