TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) _ A central Indiana sheriff's deputy found guilty of using excessive force on two people he arrested has been sentenced to 14 months in federal prison.
U. S. District Judge William T. Lawrence sentenced 38-year-old Terry Joe Smith of Greencastle on Thursday. The former Putnam County deputy sheriff was convicted in September of two counts of civil rights violations for punching one man in the face and for throwing a handcuffed man to the ground as he was placing him in the back of a squad car.
Smith was found innocent of two other counts of civil rights violation.
Acting United States Attorney Josh Minkler says the public has a right to expect better from its law enforcement officers.
Smith's attorney has said he will appeal his convictions.
