Former Memphis officer pleads guilty to federal charges in the death of Tire Nichols

Desmond Mills Jr., one of five former Memphis police officers charged in connection with the brutal beating and death of Tire Nichols, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to two felony counts of obstruction of justice and excessive force.

He is the first of five officers who were indicted on federal charges by a grand jury in September and pleaded guilty. As part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors, he must fully cooperate in a separate state case against the officers, which includes second-degree murder charges. With his cooperation, he is also expected to plead guilty to at least some of the state charges.

Prosecutors have recommended that Mr. Mills serve a 15-year prison sentence, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said. at a press conference after Mr. Mills changed his plea. The remaining four officers have all pleaded not guilty to both federal and state charges.

Mr. Nichols, a 29-year-old black man who was driving home from work on Jan. 7 when he was stopped by police, died days after the violent encounter. Five black officers from the department’s elite Scorpion unit, including Mr. Mills, were quickly fired for their role in the assault.

And as street and body camera footage of the encounter horrified the nation, Memphis officials quickly fired and disciplined several other police and first responders and disbanded the specialized police force, which had a history of using excessive force and intimidation.

Mr. Mills was indicted on two counts of statutory deprivation of rights, offenses that carry a maximum penalty of life in prison and which a grand jury said arose from unlawfully assaulting Mr. Nichols and failing to ensure that he received medical attention. The remaining two charges – both related to obstruction and witness tampering – are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

On Thursday, standing in a Memphis courtroom, Mr. Mills showed little emotion as he pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under the color of law after using excessive force and failing to intervene, and one count of witness tampering after he conspired with the other officers to lie about the violence. He is expected to be sentenced in May.

Mr. Mills is prohibited from ever working in law enforcement in Tennessee. He also faces a multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed by Mr. Nichols’ family against the officers, the city of Memphis and the Memphis police chief, among others.

“This is the first domino to fall,” said Ben Crump, an attorney representing the Nichols family, who was in the courtroom Thursday. He added: “We think we will see other dominoes fall.”

“This was really the first time I’ve heard someone tell and say what he actually did to my son,” RowVaughn Wells, Mr. Nichols’ mother, said in emotional comments after the hearing. “This is very difficult.”

“I hope his conscience tells him the right things to do, instead of his lawyers,” she said of Mr. Mills. “That said, we still have more to do.”

Street and body camera footage, captured in part on a camera worn by Mr. Mills and analyzed by The New York Times, showed how the encounter with Mr. Nichols quickly turned violent, although it remains unclear why he was initially stopped. Mr. Nichols, who did not resist the initial group of officers and was met with a conflicting stream of threats and commands, eventually broke away and ran to his family home.

Mr. Mills was among the officers who responded to calls for backup and caught up with Mr. Nichols, a FedEx employee, about 550 yards from the first stop. He fired pepper spray into Mr Nichols’ face twice, even as the injured man called for his mother. And while other officers kicked and punched Mr. Nichols, Mr. Mills pulled out his baton and punched Mr. Nichols three times.

Police documents also allege that Mr Mills left Mr Nichols handcuffed and alone, despite him needing critical medical attention, and that Mr Nichols’ mother did not provide an accurate account of what happened to her son when he visited her home with a supervisor. And while his body camera was on for part of the night, he later took off his vest with the camera and put it in the trunk of a car.

The federal criminal trial is currently scheduled to begin in May, according to court documents. Justice Department lawyers and some of the accused officers recently clashed over a request to view the contents of Mr. Nichols’ cellphone.