United States Attorney Richard B. Roper
Northern District of Texas

FORMER DALLAS TRANSIT POLICE OFFICER CONVICTED OF CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATION SENTENCED TO 30 MONTHS IN FEDERAL PRISON

DALLAS — Lance Kendall Bonner of Dallas, Texas, a former police officer with Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), was sentenced today by U.S. Chief District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine for violating the civil rights of a Dallas woman, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas. Bonner pled guilty in April to one count of deprivation of civil rights under color of law. Judge Fitzwater also sentenced Bonner to a six- month period of home confinement to follow his 30- month sentence, which is a condition of his three-year term of supervised release Bonner is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on August 26, 2008.

Bonner admitted that during the early morning hours of Oct. 10, 2004, he saw a woman at a Dallas convenience store, followed her, made a traffic stop of the car in which she was riding, and arrested her. Bonner then drove the woman to the Dallas County jail but did not take her inside. Instead, he drove her to an empty DART substation and told her he would release her if she engaged in sexual acts with him. The woman complied and, after they engaged in sexual acts, Bonner released her from custody. Bonner acknowledged that he violated the woman’s constitutional rights and caused her bodily injury.

At today’s sentencing hearing, the victim addressed the Court and stated that she agreed with the plea agreement between Bonner and the government and that she forgave Bonner for his crime.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the FBI and the Dallas Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tammy Reno and Marcus Busch and DOJ Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Jonathan Skrmetti prosecuted the case.

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