A former Providence police officer has been sentenced to 42 months in prison after a jury found he arrested a man he knew had not committed a crime.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said former Providence Police Department Sgt. William Dukes Jr. was sentenced after he was convicted of violating the victim’s civil rights. Evidence presented at trial showed that after the victim contacted the Providence PD to file a complaint against Dukes, the officer responded by threatening to arrest the victim if he called back.
The victim then contacted the Webster County Sheriff’s Office and Kentucky State Police. When Dukes became aware of the calls, he went to the victim’s house at 1:00 in the morning to arrest him. Upon Dukes arriving, the victim insisted he had done nothing wrong and went back inside his home.
Dukes then illegally entered the victim’s home, tased the man and repeatedly struck the victim with a police baton, breaking the man’s nose.
The rogue officer then handcuffed the victim and charged him with four crimes.
The jury convicted Dukes of willfully violating the victim’s constitutional rights and found that the offense involved the use of a dangerous weapon or resulted in bodily injury.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000
