Ex-deputy was never arrested for assault on inmate. He won’t serve time in jail, either.

A Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputy fired after he was caught kneeing, punching and stomping an inmate at the jail has taken a plea deal in the criminal case against him.

Tyler Michael LeMond was never arrested in the case, nor will he serve any jail time.

Video surveillance footage from March 29 shows LeMond walking into an inmate’s cell in the medical unit at the Manatee County jail and immediately shoving him to the ground, kneeing him eight times, punching and stomping on him — all in less than a minute.

In June, the state attorney’s office formally charged LeMond with one count of simple battery, a first-degree misdemeanor, as recommended by the sheriff’s office. Less than two months later, his defense attorney Scott Miller and Assistant State Attorney Tanner Woods negotiated a plea agreement without LeMond ever being booked into jail or even personally appearing in court.

LeMond, 21, pleaded no contest to the battery charge and was sentenced to 12 months of probation. Conditions of his probation include that he complete 20 days in an offender work program and six weeks of anger management, pay a $25 fine plus court costs and have no contact with the victim.

The state attorney’s office declined to comment about the case’s resolution, according to Woods’ supervisor, Assistant State Attorney Darlene Ragoonanan.

Miller did not return a call to his office for comment.

LeMond could have faced up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine, the maximum penalty for misdemeanor battery. He could have faced up to five years in prison had he been charged with battery on a detained person, a 3rd-degree felony, which could have been an appropriate charge for the incident.

The victim was in jail on trespassing charges at the time of the incident. He was in a padded cell in the jail’s medical unit detoxing when he pounded on the door, before LeMond came in and assaulted him.

LeMond’s probation will be eligible for automatic early termination once he completes all the conditions. It is common for defendants be required to formally file a motion in court and for a judge to approve the termination.

LeMond could have his probation terminated in as little as six weeks.

The case was back in court late last month, after the state filed a motion to correct or amend LeMond’s sentence.

According to that motion, both sides had agreed that LeMond would complete a 16-week anger management class but the court record stated six weeks. The motion was denied by Manatee County Judge Doug Henderson.

The anger management class provider testified in court that six weeks would be sufficient for LeMond, according to Ragoonanan. Regardless, even if the six-week class had been a clerical error, LeMond’s sentence could have been increased, based on case law. Whether six weeks or 16 weeks, both are unusual as court-ordered anger management classes are usually either on- day classes or 8-week-long classes.

LeMond, who was fired on April 24 following an internal affairs investigation, had 20 use of force incidents during his tenure at the sheriff’s office of just more than two years.

LeMond is one of three correctional deputies who has been charged with battery against an inmate at the Manatee County jail this year.

Stemming from an incident on April 20, veteran deputy Daniel Bower is facing a misdemeanor battery for kicking an inmate in the face after he was already in handcuffs, according to the sheriff’s office. Bower, who had worked at the sheriff’s office since January 2006 and was a defensive tactics instructor at the sheriff’s office Corrections Academy, resigned before he could be fired.

Bower, 41, has not been arrested nor has he appeared in court. The next scheduled hearing in the case is Tuesday.

The third former deputy, Louis Valentin, 34, resigned on Aug. 4, four days after he was captured on video punching an inmate in the face. The sheriff’s office has also recommended that Valentin be charged with misdemeanor battery. The case is currently being reviewed by the state attorney’s office and no formal charges have been filed.

This story was originally published September 6, 2019 at 4:59 AM.