PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts police officer convicted of sending a man to the hospital with seven fractured ribs and a fractured vertebra faces a year in jail.
Pittsfield Officer Michael McHugh was sentenced Friday to serve one year of a two-year sentence after being convicted last month of assault and battery, filing a false police report and misleading police, The Berkshire Eagle reported. The balance of the sentence will be suspended for two years of probation.
McHugh’s co-defendant, Jason LaBelle, charged in the same assault of his estranged father-in-law, Michael Cebula, was given a two-year suspended sentence.
The assault occurred in July 2016. McHugh, a 20-year veteran, was off duty at the time.
Cebula addressed the court and described himself as physically and emotionally broken since the assault. He said he lives in constant fear and still suffers from nightmares.
McHugh, who has been on unpaid suspension since August 2017, faces termination, Pittsfield Police Chief Michael Wynn said.
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