Former MPD Detective Rodolfo Gomez Jr. Sentenced To One Year In Federal Prison For Violating Deron Darnell Love's Civil Rights

Former Milwaukee Police Detective Gomez Jr. sentenced to one year in a federal prison for a civil rights violation of a homicide suspect in custody.

By H. Nelson Goodson

Hispanic News Network U.S.A.

October 13, 2016

Milwaukee, WI - On Thursday, former Milwaukee Police Detective Rodolfo Gomez Jr., 50, was sentenced to one year and one day in a federal prison and one year probation. Gomez pleaded guilty for assaulting a man that was handcuffed in a interrogation room at the downtown Milwaukee County Jail. He pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Pamela Pepper of the Eastern District of Wisconsin to depriving an in-custody suspect of his civil rights under color of law in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 242.

In connection with his guilty plea, Gomez Jr. admitted that he repeatedly punched the victim in the face and head and kneed him in the torso, all while one of the victim's hands was handcuffed to a wall in an interview room. Gomez Jr. stopped punching and kicking the victim when a police lieutenant who heard yelling entered the room.  In pleading guilty, Gomez Jr. acknowledged that the force used was unreasonable and that the victim suffered bodily injury.
According to the federal indictment, Gomez Jr. was accused of beating Deron Darnell Love on August 14, 2013  while handcuffed during an interrogation. Gomez Jr. was caught on video surveillance in the interrogation room punching Love in the upper body. Gomez Jr. was removed from the room by another officer who witnessed the beating. Gomez Jr. came back in with several Milwaukee County Sheriff deputies to move Love into another cell.

Love who was charged with two felony counts for first-degree reckless homicide and neglect in the death of his 7-year-old son was taken to a hospital for treatment after the incident. On September 12, 2014, a jury found Love not guilty on both counts.

On October 14, 2014, Love filed a lawsuit against Gómez Jr. for striking him while in custody in 2013. A scheduling conference in the Love lawsuit case is set for October 17, according to court records.