Former Baltimore Police Sergeant Sentenced For Misconduct: Reports

BALTIMORE, MD — A former police sergeant was sentenced to six months of home detention after prosecutors said he engaged in a "pattern and practice of harassment and intimidation" during his time with the Baltimore Police Department, according to multiple reports.

Ethan Newberg, 53, pleaded guilty in May after prosecutors accused him of a series of unjustified arrests in 2018 and 2019, the Baltimore Sun reported. Newberg was also sentenced to two years of supervised probation, nearly four years after a grand jury issued a superseding indictment with 32 additional charges, according to the Sun.

Newberg retired from the police department on July 1, reports said.

An investigation into Newberg began after authorities arrested him in May 2019 on charges of second-degree assault, false imprisonment and misconduct in office for illegally arresting Lee Dotson, the Baltimore Banner reported. A review of body camera footage by state prosecutors revealed eight additional instances where Newberg falsely arrested people, the Banner reported.

Body camera footage also showed multiple instances of Newberg harassing and assaulting people while bullying them to the point that it violated their civil rights, according to a WBAL-TV report.

The mayor-controlled Board of Estimates recently approved a pair of $287,500 settlements to resolve lawsuits in U.S. District Court in Baltimore against Newberg, the Banner reported.

Prosecutors had requested a judge sentence Newberg to 36 months of prison, reports said.

Newberg addressed the court before his sentencing, during which he apologized for actions and lamented that his years in the Baltimore Police Department were "defined by a handful of videos," the Sun reported.

He also apologized to the people he wrongly arrested, reports said.

"I believe if I didn't react to words directed at myself and my officers, I would not be standing as a [defendant] in this courtroom," Newberg said. "So, for that, I am sorry."