East St. Louis Police Officer Sentenced on Civil Rights Conviction

A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on June 1, 2010, ANTONIO C. MCWHERTER, age 47, of Shiloh, Illinois, was sentenced in the United States District Court in East St. Louis for deprivation of civil rights. MCWHERTER pled guilty to the offense on May 27, 2010. MCWHERTER received three years’ probation with four months of home detention, fined $5,000, ordered to pay a $25 special assessment, and was ordered to pay restitution to the victim in the amount of $3,489.

The violation occurred on January 30, 2006, in East St. Louis, Illinois, when the defendant, while acting under color of law as a police officer for the East St. Louis Police Department, struck an individual, D.C., in the mouth without legal justification. The assault occurred in the booking area of the East St. Louis Police Department.

As part of MCWHERTER’s plea agreement, MCWHERTER agreed to immediately resign from the East St. Louis Police Department. MCWHERTER also agreed not to seek or accept any law enforcement employment, as well as any position or assignment in the military which would require him to supervise, care for, direct, or manage detainees or prisoners.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was handled by Department of Justice – Civil Rights Division Trial Attorneys Patricia Sumner and Jeff Blumberg and Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.

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