Brandit Franco, Excessive Force, Texas 2009

A former Texas law enforcement officer has pleaded guilty to using excessive force against a prisoner.

Brandit Franco, 33, a former deputy with the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, pleaded guilty to a civil rights charge on July 24, 2009 in federal court in San Antonio, Texas, for using excessive force against a prisoner while working as a detention officer at the county jail.

According to documents filed in court, Franco acknowledged that on the evening of October 18, 2006, he willfully used more force than was necessary when he responded to noisy prisoners inside of a locked holding cell by entering the cell and striking a pretrial detainee.

As a result of Franco's assault, the prisoner sustained injuries to his head that necessitated medical treatment.

By pleading guilty, Franco acknowledged that he deprived the prisoner of his constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty without due process, which includes the right to be free from the use of excessive force by a law enforcement officer.

Law enforcement officers take an oath to uphold the law, not to violate it, as this officer did when he abused his authority over a man in his custody.

Brandit Franco faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of $250,000.

The FBI investigated this case, and it was prosecuted by Gerard V. Hogan and James D. Walsh with the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/texas-man-pleads-guilty-federal-civil-rights-charges