Savannah Standard

Two former deputies from the Richmond County Sheriff's Office have admitted guilt in a federal case concerning civil rights violations related to an assault on a detainee. Daniel D’Aversa, 52, and Melissa Morello, 27, face potential sentences of up to 10 years in federal prison following their guilty pleas to charges of Deprivation of Civil Rights Under Color of Law. The penalties may also include substantial fines and restitution, with the possibility of three years of supervised release after serving any prison time.

The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Jill E. Steinberg for the Southern District of Georgia, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Sean Burke of the FBI Atlanta Field Office.

According to plea agreements, both individuals were involved in an incident at Richmond County's Charles D. Webster Detention Center on May 7, 2022. They were part of a team managing inmates who had caused flooding in part of the jail. During this event, a pretrial detainee known as Victim 1 was handcuffed face-down when D’Aversa and Morello informed other staff that Victim 1 wanted his handcuffs removed. Morello attempted unsuccessfully to unlock them so another employee could engage physically with him.

A deputy identified as Deputy 2 eventually removed the handcuffs, after which Deputy 1 allegedly "repeatedly punched Victim 1 and placed him in a chokehold." During this assault, Morello and D’Aversa did not intervene or attempt to stop it despite having the opportunity.

Sentencing for D’Aversa and Morello will be determined by U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall following pre-sentence investigations conducted by U.S. Probation Services.

The FBI is handling the investigation, while prosecution is being led by Southern District of Georgia Assistant U.S. Attorney George J.C. Jacobs III along with Anita T. Channapati from the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.