A former Weymouth Police officer was sentenced Tuesday for punching a handcuffed man more than a dozen times while loading him into a squad car in July 2022.
Justin Chappell, 44, was sentenced by a federal judge to two years of supervised release, with the first six months spent under home confinement.
He pleaded guilty in April to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law.
According to a state law enforcement watchdog, it was not the first time Chappell brutalized a suspect.
In January, the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST, Commission revoked Chappell’s license to work in law enforcement, citing both the July 2022 episode and an unrelated incident five months prior in which Chappell “delivered two closed-fist strikes” to the head of a person resisting arrest.
For that incident, he was issued a one-day suspension and orders for retraining, according to the commission.
On July 2, 2022, Chappell responded to a call for an intoxicated man causing a disturbance at a Weymouth home. The man, whose hands were cuffed behind his back, struggled as Chappell forced him into a police cruiser, a video widely shared after the incident showed.
As the man resisted, Chappell delivered 13 blows to his head with a closed fist. His use of force was without any legal justification, federal prosecutors said.
In a pre-sentencing motion, Chappell’s attorney, Kenneth H. Anderson, said his client acknowledged his conduct and “has never run from accepting responsibility for his deeply regrettable actions in this incident.”
U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs also ordered Chappell to complete 80 hours of community service.
In a court filing, U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy’s office, which prosecuted the case, argued that while Chappell’s actions constituted a serious criminal offense necessitating punishment, other factors should spare him jail time.
The prosecutors cited Chappell’s “prompt acceptance” of his actions, mental health conditions for which he sought help, an “honorable and significant military service,” and service helping veterans.
In a court filing, Anderson described Chappell’s multiple tours of duty in Afghanistan and time working for the State Department as a civilian security contractor in Iraq.
Chappell resigned from the Weymouth Police days after the July 2022 incident as he faced a termination hearing, according to the POST Commission.
He is one of 20 officers the commission has decertified, all since last year. The officers are banned from future police work in Massachusetts and their names are added to a national registry of decertified police officers.
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