A Baltimore police officer could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison after he was convicted by a federal jury on civil rights and obstruction-of-justice charges in the beating of a 17-year-old in 2004, the Justice Department announced Friday.
Officer Gregory M. Mussmacher, 35, submitted false police reports to cover up the assault, according to the Justice Department.
According to the six-count federal indictment and other court records, Benjamin Ruben Rowland, now 23, was arguing with his sister at their former home on Glengyle Avenue in Baltimore when she called police, and Mussmacher was among the responding officers. When Mussmacher began questioning Rowland, he began to taunt the officer.
Mussmacher then took off his badge and service weapon, removed Rowland's handcuffs and challenged him to a fight. When Rowland refused to fight him, Mussmacher pepper-sprayed him in the face, the records show.
At the Northwest District station, Mussmacher hit the restrained teen in his face using his police baton, breaking Rowland's orbital bone and fracturing his skull in two places, Justice Department officials said.
There, Officer Guy Gerstel, now retired, also hit the teenager in the back with a pool cue from a recreation room. Gerstel pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and admitted to assaulting Rowland on the first day of the trial.
Sgt. Wayne Thompson, also now retired, was charged with obstructing justice, accused of writing a false statement and persuading other officers not to fill out required reports. He also pleaded guilty.
In 2005, Mussmacher was found guilty by a Baltimore Circuit Court judge of misdemeanor assault and misconduct in office for striking the teen, but his conviction was overturned on appeal, leading the Justice Department to take on the case. Two years later, Rowland filed a civil lawsuit against Mussmacher and Gerstel in U.S. District Court, which was settled out of court, court records indicate.
Mussmacher joined the department in 2000. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 23.