WILLIAMSPORT, LYCOMING COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Three former Mount Carmel Borough police officers were sentenced on October 30 for their involvement in a conspiracy to violate the civil rights of those they arrested between 2018 and 2021, according to the US Department of Justice.
- Former Lieutenant David Donkockik, 53, of Catawissa, was sentenced to seven years in prison.
- Former officer Jonathan McHugh, 36, of Tamaqua, was sentenced to six years in prison.
- Former Officer Kyle Schauer, 36, of Catawissa, was sentenced to four years in prison.
According to United States Attorney Brian D. Miller, the three police officers were sentenced for their roles in covering up their use of excessive force during arrests.
“During 22 different arrests, the defendants kicked, punched, choked, and otherwise usedexcessive force against those they were arresting. In those arrests, they caused bodily injuries totheir victims,” Miller said.
All of the men previously pleaded guilty to “conspiracy to use excessive force against those they arrested and to cover up the same.”
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“McHugh, Donkochik, and Schauer also took steps to ensure that video of the arrests was notcaptured by police cameras, or if footage that incriminated them was captured, took steps to ensure that footage was not preserved. They falsely reported that arrestees acted in a manner requiring violence and then charged arrestees with aggravated assault, resisting arrest, and related offenses to conceal their own use of violence,” Miller explained in a media release…