EAST ST. LOUIS — A former veteran East St. Louis police officer pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges accusing him of failing to intervene when another officer pepper-sprayed two sleeping jail detainees.
Vincent Anderson appeared in federal court in front of U.S. District Judge Stephen P. McGlynn for an arraignment where he changed his not guilty plea to guilty.
Anderson was charged federally with two counts of deprivation under the color of law. The offense happened before he retired as an East St. Louis police officer, authorities said.
The charging documents say that on Oct. 3, 2019, Anderson, while on duty at the East St. Louis jail, deprived two people who were not identified in the court documents, "of the right secured and protected by the Constitution and the laws of the United States to be free from unreasonable seizure, which includes the right to be free from a police officer's willful failure to intervene or stop another officer's unreasonable use of force."
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Anderson was acting as a high-ranking supervisor at the time of the incident, according to the documents. Anderson "knew that another police officer intended to and then did pepper spray both victims with no legal justification, while both victims were asleep in a locked holding cell," the documents said.
Anderson did nothing to stop the officer's "unreasonable use of force, despite having a realistic opportunity to do so," the charging documents said.
Anderson was represented in court by defense attorney John Stubbs. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erin Moinju and Scott Verseman were the federal prosecutors on the case.
Sentencing for Anderson is set for July 23 at 10:30 a.m. in front of McGlynn.