Two former Richmond County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office deputies pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal civil rights charges involving an assault on a jail detainee, according to authorities.
Daniel D’Aversa, 52, and Melissa Morello, 28, pleaded guilty to an information charge charging both officers with one felony count of deprivation of civil rights under color of law.
According to court documents, Morello was assigned as a jailer at Richmond County’s Charles D. Webster Detention Center, and D’Aversa was a corporal with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.
On May 7, 2022, Morello and D’Aversa were working with other Richmond County Sheriff’s Office deputies to secure inmates who had caused flooding in a section of the jail.
Fellow deputies deliberately removed the handcuffs of a compliant inmate and then proceeded to punch and kick him.
Both Morello and D’Aversa pleaded guilty to failing to intervene or stop the assault on the inmate, who was not posing a threat to anyone at the time of the assault.
U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall will schedule sentencing for D’Aversa and Morello upon completion of U.S. Probation Services’ pre-sentence investigations.
Sentencing hearings will be set at a later date.
D’Aversa and Morello face up to 10 years in federal prison.
The FBI Atlanta Field Office is investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney George J.C. Jacobs III for the Southern District of Georgia and Trial Attorney Anita T. Channapati of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case.