SPRINGFIELD — A federal judge has sentenced former Hadley police officer Christopher Roeder to 14 months in prison for breaking an arrested man’s nose and then falsifying a police report about the episode in 2017.
Roeder, 50, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Springfield on Thursday. He was ordered to report to prison by Aug. 19 to serve his 14 months, after which he will serve one year of supervised release.
In February, a jury found Roeder guilty on two counts: deprivation of rights under color of law and falsification of a document. The charges stemmed from Roeder striking a man he had arrested, Nickolas Peters, in the face with his elbow while he was sitting on a bench in booking at the Hadley Police Department. The blow fractured Peters’ nose, requiring surgery to fix.
“I never expected to be assaulted by a police officer,” Peters said in front of U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni on Thursday.
Peters said the incident has impacted him, his wife and his children, who he said no longer trust police officers because of Roeder’s actions. Prosecutors said Peters still suffers from physical effects of the blow, which they said resulted in around $10,000 in medical bills.
“This assault changed my life in a negative way,” Peters said
During a five-day trial in February, prosecutors in the case argued that Roeder sought to punish Peters for an incident on March 30, 2017, when, Roeder claimed, Peters struck him with his rearview mirror while driving through a construction zone.
Prosecutors said that on April 3, Peters again drove through the same work zone, where Roeder then arrested him, charging him with 10 offenses including reckless assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery on a police officer. All of those 10 charges were later dismissed by the Northwestern district attorney’s office.
While being booked in Hadley, Roeder fractured Peters’ nose with an elbow strike, bouncing his head off the concrete wall behind him. Two videos of the incident, one with audio, were primary pieces of evidence in the case.
In his own statement to the court, Roeder apologized to Peters and his family. He said that he had already lost his professional career and would likely lose his military pension as a result of his actions.
“I am in the process of rebuilding my life,” he said. “I am not a threat to the public.”
In sentencing Roeder, Mastroianni said that he heavily considered that video — particularly a moment after striking Peters, when Roeder said, “I just told you, you’re not,” before stopping mid-sentence. Roeder then continued: “I told you to stop resisting.”
Mastroianni said that what Roeder intended to say was clear from one of his previous statements to Peters: “You’re not in charge here.”
“That was a glimpse into your mind at that point,” Mastroianni said.
But Mastroianni also said that he considered other aspects of Roeder’s behavior and history that the judge saw as positive: among them, Roeder’s military service, his spotless record prior to the incident, and the fact that he initially tried to get a supervisor to handle Peters’ arrest.
Those thoughts factored into Mastroianni’s sentencing of Roeder to 14 months. Assistant U.S. Attorney Deepika Bains Shukla had argued on Thursday for Roeder to be sentenced to 70 months imprisonment. Roeder’s attorney, Thomas O’Connor, had argued for nine months of home confinement.
After the two sides argued over whether Peters’ injury constituted “bodily injury” or “serious bodily injury” — the latter carries a steeper punishment under sentencing guidelines — Mastroianni decided it was “bodily injury.”
Even after that determination, Mastroianni said that Roeder was looking at a sentence of between 27 and 33 months in prison. But ultimately, the judge decided to vary from those guidelines.
On the question of restitution, Mastroianni said that will be decided at a future date.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.