Former Police Officer Sentenced To One Year In Prison For Use Of Excessive Force During Arrest

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A former Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) officer was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware II to 12 months in prison and one year of supervised release for his use of excessive force during an arrest of a woman in 2015, announced U.S. Attorney Dayle Elieson of the District of Nevada and Special Agent in Charge Aaron C. Rouse of the FBI’s Las Vegas Office. He was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine and complete 300 hours of community service after serving his term of imprisonment.

Richard Scavone, 51, pleaded guilty on Sept. 29, 2017, to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law. He was working as a LVMPD patrol officer when the incident occurred. After conducting its own investigation into Scavone’s conduct, LVMPD terminated his employment.

According to the plea agreement, Scavone, who wore a body-worn camera, admitted that, on Jan. 6, 2015, he assaulted a handcuffed woman in his custody outside a Hampton Inn Hotel on Tropicana Blvd. He admitted that during the interaction with A.O., and while A.O. was handcuffed, he: shoved A.O. to the ground; grabbed her around the neck with his hand and threw her to the ground; struck her in the forehead with an open palm; grabbed her by the head and slammed her face onto the hood of his patrol vehicle; grabbed her by the hair and slammed her face onto the hood of his patrol vehicle a second time; and slammed A.O. into the door of his patrol vehicle. Scavone admitted that he took those actions without legal justification and that he knew his actions were against the law.

This case was investigated by the FBI with the cooperation of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Phillip N. Smith Jr. and Nicholas Dickinson of the District of Nevada and Trial Attorney Julia Gegenheimer of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice prosecuted the case.

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