A federal grand jury indicted a former Marion County Deputy Sheriff on Tuesday for using excessive force during an arrest in 2014.
On Aug. 7, 2014, Jesse Alan Terrell, 33, repeatedly struck, kneed and kicked a man in his head and upper body, according to an indictment issued by the Department of Justice.
Terrell was fired a year later on Aug. 4, 2015, after supervisors reviewed a video of the incident, said Deputy Lauren Lettelier, a spokesperson for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
He faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, according to a DOJ press release.
The victim of the assault was later identified as then 43-year-old Derrick Price, whom Terrell arrested for drug charges with the help of four other deputies, Lettelier said.
In a mugshot taken after the arrest, Price’s left eye appears swollen and purple. Letellier said all five deputies took part in the assault, but only Terrell has been formally indicted.
The other deputies resigned and pled guilty to the assaults, she said.
The FBI’s Jacksonville division is investigating the incident, and the State Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case, the release states.
Contact Martin Vassolo at mvassolo@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @martindvassolo.
