Richard S. Hartunian, United States
Attorney, Northern District of New York, announced today that a Binghamton, New
York grand jury returned an indictment on June 6, 2012 charging David Monell, a
former corrections lieutenant at the Tioga County Jail, with deprivation of
rights under color of law, in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section
242. If found guilty, the defendant faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10
years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000.
The indictment relates to an incident
alleged to have occurred on June 21, 2010 at the Tioga County Jail in Owego,
New York. It alleges that the defendant, while employed as a corrections
lieutenant, and while acting under color of law, unlawfully assaulted and
caused bodily injury to inmate David Coffey. The indictment further alleges
that these actions deprived Coffey of the right, protected by the Constitution
and laws of the United States, to be free from the excessive use of force
amounting to punishment.
The defendant appeared before U.S.
Magistrate Judge Andrew T. Baxter on June 11, 2012 in Syracuse, New York, and
entered a plea of not guilty to the indictment. He was released on his own
recognizance pending disposition of the matter. The charge contained in the
indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent
unless and until proven guilty.
The indictment resulted from an
investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Tioga
County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United
States Attorney Kevin P. Dooley of the Binghamton Office, with assistance from
the criminal section of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.
Inquiries can be directed to AUSA Dooley at (607) 773-2887.
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