Former Georgia Sheriff’s Deputy Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Detainee

The Justice Department announced today that former Thomas County Sheriff’s Deputy Julian Scott Law pleaded guilty today to assaulting a detainee inside of the Thomas County Jail in Thomasville, Georgia, thereby depriving the detainee of his civil rights.

During the plea hearing, Law admitted that on Aug. 20, 2010, while he was working as a deputy, he punched a detainee and knocked him into a wall, causing the detainee to suffer a bloody nose, swelling, bruising, and pain. Law admitted that he punched the detainee because the detainee had thrown a cell phone case onto the floor.

Sentencing for Law is set for July 16, 2012. At sentencing, Law faces a maximum penalty of ten years in jail.

“The Department of Justice will continue to vigorously prosecute officers who betray their oath to society by abusing their official authority,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division.

“We count on our law enforcement officers to protect and serve, and to honor the badge they wear.  When they betray their oath, they dishonor the public trust and their fellow officers who uphold the law, rather than break it,” said U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia Michael J. Moore.

This case was investigated by the FBI and was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Christine M. Siscaretti of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sharon Ratley and Paul C. McCommon III of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia.