Former Police Officer in Louisiana Sentenced to More than Six Years for Abusing an Arrestee and Other Crimes

Monroe, Louisiana. – On Wednesday, December 7, 2022, a former officer with the Monroe Police Department, Jared Preston Desadier, 44, was sentenced to 78 months (6 years, 6 months) in prison, followed by 2 years of supervised release, for his role in the assault of an arrestee in Ouachita Parish and his efforts to cover up that abuse.

“The defendant’s decision to callously abuse an arrestee when he thought he wasn’t being watched is an affront to the principles of honesty and integrity that our society expects from law enforcement,” said Assistant Attorney General Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This sentence makes clear that the Department of Justice will aggressively investigate and prosecute any officer who believes that the Constitution only applies when the cameras are on.”

“All Americans expect law enforcement officers to continuously abide by the law,” stated U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown. “The bedrock of officer and citizen engagement is for the officer to, without exception, act professionally with a goal of deescalating tense situations. Here, this defendant instead decided to criminally escalate the situation by unnecessarily battering the victim. Prosecuting offenses such as these not only benefit society, but also law enforcement because bad police officers who cast a black eye on the profession are eradicated from the law enforcement community. This office will continue to prosecute these types of crimes with a goal of increasing the public’s trust in law enforcement.”

According to the defendant's plea bargain, investigators from the Monroe Police Department, including Desadier, performed a field interview with the victim in this case on April 21, 2020. Desadier pursued the victim when he attempted to flee. The victim ultimately came to a halt, rolled onto his stomach, and placed his hands behind his back. Desadier raced toward the victim and questioned his colleague cop if the officer's body-worn camera was recording, and when he was told incorrectly that the cameras were turned off, he continued to charge toward the victim and kicked him in the face.

The statement was delivered by Assistant Attorney General Clarke, U.S. Attorney Brown, and Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division. The FBI investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian C. Flanagan and Trial Attorney Thomas Johnson of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division prosecuted it.