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Former Texas Detention Officer Charged with Excessive Force
A former Port Isabel Detention Center officer has been charged with violating the civil rights of a detainee. Raul Leal, 31, of Harlingen, Texas, and currently of Albany, Georgia, was arrested by special agents of the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General in Albany, Texas, without incident.
According to the indictment, Leal allegedly assaulted an immigrant detainee by kicking him in the face on June 14, 2009, resulting in a fracture of the detainee’s orbital bone. The indictment also accuses Leal of obstruction of justice, alleging he knowingly concealed, covered up, falsified and made false entries in a detention center report dated June 15, 2009, about the incident.
Leal is also charged with making a false statement to DHS-OIG agents when in September 2009 he claimed that the detainee had sustained the facial fracture when the detainee’s face inadvertently struck his knee.
The three-count indictment was a result of an investigation conducted by special agents of the McAllen Field Office of DHS-OIG. The case will be prosecuted in the Brownsville Division of the Southern District of Texas.
Leal made an initial appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Albany, Texas, and has been ordered released on bond. He is expected to appear for arraignment on the charges on a date to be set by the court in the near future.
The charges carry significant penalties, including a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison for violating civil rights, 20 years for obstruction of justice, and five years for making false statements to a federal agent. All three counts also carry a maximum fine of up to $250,000.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kebharu Smith of the Southern District of Texas and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Saeed Mody are prosecuting this case.
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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