Former MPD Detective Rodolfo Gomez Jr. federally indicted, accused of using excessive force



MILWAUKEE -- Former Milwaukee Police Department Detective Rodolfo Gomez Jr. has been federally indicted, accused of excessive force against a man who was in custody during an interrogation in August of 2013.

49-year-old Gomez has been indicted for "willfully depriving an in-custody subject of his civil right not to be subjected to excessive force."

If convicted, Gomez could be sentenced to a maximum possible term of imprisonment of 10 years, a fine of not more than $250,000, and a term of supervised release not to exceed three years.

The charge is based on the allegation that, in an interview room in the Milwaukee Police Department's Police Administration Building on August 14th, 2013, Gomez repeatedly punched Deron Love in the face and head and kneed him in the torso, all while one of Love's hands was handcuffed to a wall in the interview room.

Gomez stopped punching and kicking Love when a police lieutenant who heard yelling entered the room.

The indictment alleges that the force used was unreasonable and that the victim suffered bodily injury.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was investigated by the FBI, building upon an earlier investigation done by the Milwaukee Police Department.

A Milwaukee County jury found Gomez NOT GUILTY on two charges -- misconduct in office/excess authority and abuse of residents of penal facilities on February 13th, 2015.

Gomez was a 12-year veteran of the Milwaukee Police Department. He was fired in December of 2013. Gomez has appealed his firing, but he hasn't been reinstated.

Gomez is expected to be arraigned in federal court on Wednesday afternoon, April 6th.