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CRIME

Second New Orleans officer enters plea in connection with beating of Hispanic man

By Louis Casiano Fox News
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A New Orleans police officer received a 10-day suspended sentence on Wednesday in connection with the beating of a Hispanic man whom he and another officer allegedly called a "fake American."

Spencer Sutton, 25, was originally charged with battery but pleaded no contest to disturbing the peace. In addition to the suspended sentence, Sutton agreed to pay the beating victim, Jorge Gomez, $5,000.

The other officer in the case, John Galman, 27, received a 30-day sentence and a year's probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor battery in February.

In this 2018 photo, New Orleans Police Department Officers John Galman, second left, and Spencer Sutton, right, arrive in New Orleans Municipal Court for a bail hearing with their lawyers. (Matthew Hinton/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

In this 2018 photo, New Orleans Police Department Officers John Galman, second left, and Spencer Sutton, right, arrive in New Orleans Municipal Court for a bail hearing with their lawyers. (Matthew Hinton/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro said "the charges to which they pleaded guilty were justified and supported by the facts presented to us by independent, impartial witnesses" and that no special consideration was given to the defendants.

The officers were off-duty when they fought with Gomez outside a bar on July 24, 2018, and were said to have beaten him unconscious. They had been on the police force for less than a year at the time

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Warning: This article contains graphic images.

Gomez, who was born in Honduras and is an Army veteran, was wearing military camouflage at the time of the fight. Galman questioned Gomez about his military service and said he was "stealing valor" by wearing the outfit, according to a police report.

Galman served in the Marines from 2010 to 2015, according to his police application paperwork, Nola.com reported.

Both officers were fired after their arrests, the site reported.

This 2018 photo shows beating victim Jorge Gomez. (Matthew Hinton/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

This 2018 photo shows beating victim Jorge Gomez. (Matthew Hinton/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

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Gomez has filed a federal lawsuit against the city and the two ex-officers. The suit said Sutton and Galman “spewed vicious, racist and nativist epithets” at him “and told him to ‘go back’ to the place he was from.”

"While the NOPD generally does not comment on pending litigation matters, members of our department are expected to comply with the law at all times and adhere to the highest standards of professional conduct, whether on- or off-duty,” a police news release said in response to the lawsuit.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.