2 former deputies plead guilty to federal civil rights charges in prisoner assault at GA jail

Two former Richmond County Sheriff’s Office deputies have pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges involving an assault on a prisoner in the Augusta jail.

As described in plea agreements, Daniel D’Aversa, 52, was a jailer at the Richmond County Charles D. Webster Detention Center, and Melissa Morello, 27, was a corporal with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Department.

Both of them were at the jail on May 7, 2022, working with other jail staff to secure inmates who had caused flooding in a section of the jail.

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A pretrial detainee, called “Victim 1″ in court documents, was handcuffed face-down in the jail when D’Aversa and Morello shouted to other staff members that Victim 1 wanted his handcuffs removed.

Morello then “attempted to unlock Victim 1′s handcuffs so that another employee would have an excuse to go hands-on with him,” and when Morello was unsuccessful, a deputy listed as “Deputy 2″ then unlocked and removed the detainee’s handcuffs.

Another deputy listed as “Deputy 1″ then “repeatedly punched Victim 1 and placed him in a chokehold. … During Deputy 1′s assault on Victim 1,” and both Morello and D’Aversa “failed to intervene to stop or attempt to stop the assault,” despite having the opportunity to do so.

Sentencing for D’Aversa and Morello will be scheduled after the completion of pre-sentence investigations by U.S. Probation Services.

They face a possible sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison followed by up to three years of supervised release.

There is no parole in the federal system.

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