ST. LOUIS (AP) — A former Ferguson police officer has admitted in federal court that he beat a handcuffed man and filed a false police report.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 63-year-old Jackie Matthews on Tuesday pleaded guilty to a federal charge of falsifying information in a federal investigation. He could face up to 21 months in prison at sentencing in April.
The incident happened when Matthews responded to a domestic disturbance call in March 2020. A man was arrested and handcuffed with his hands behind his back.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sirena Wissler said that when the man spit on Matthews, the officer put his hands on the man’s throat and struck him multiple times. He then lied about it in an incident report. Wissler said the false claims were contradicted by the officer’s body camera.
Matthews worked in Ferguson for about a year before being fired in May 2020. He was indicted in November 2020.
