Ex-Manatee deputy caught on tape punching an inmate. Charge could be dropped next month
A former Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputy who resigned after being caught on video punching a jail inmate in the face will have charges dropped against him after he completes the requirements of a three-month probation.
Luis Valentin was never arrested nor did he ever step inside a courtroom after being charged with one count of misdemeanor battery.
Instead, the 34-year-old was issued a summons to appear in court on Nov. 20. But on the day before the former corrections deputy was scheduled to appear in a Bradenton courtroom, a deferred prosecution agreement was filed by the state attorney’s office.
If Valentin completes the terms of the agreement, the state attorney’s office has agreed to dismiss the battery charge against him after his probation concludes on Feb. 19.
In addition to having to complete an eight-week anger management course and 25 hours of community service within the first two months of probation, Valentin cannot be charged with any other law violations, consume alcohol or medications to excess or use illegal drugs. He must also submit to random urinalysis and maintain employment or go to school. Valentin must pay fees totaling $205 for the cost of investigation, prosecution and his supervision.
The chief prosecutor who presided over the deal, Darlene Ragoonanan, was unavailable for comment on Monday and Valentin’s defense attorney, Charley Demosthenous, did not return a call for comment.
Valentin, who joined the sheriff’s office in December 2015 as a control room operator at the jail, resigned on Aug. 8 — four days he punched an inmate. Footage of the incident, captured on the jail video surveillance system, was released to news outlets after the sheriff’s office sent its internal investigation recommending that Valentin be charged with battery to the state attorney’s office.
Initially, Valentin told professional standards investigators that the punch had been “reactionary” because the inmate had spit on him, but the evidence contradicted that claim.
Valentin was not the only former jail deputy to be given such a deal in 2019.
Tyler LeMond, 22, pleaded no contest on July 30 to one count of misdemeanor battery for kneeing, punching and stomping an inmate at the jail in March. As part of his negotiated plea deal, LeMond was sentenced to serve 12 months probation with the conditions that he complete 20 days in a work offender program and a 6-week anger management program, pay $25 in court costs and have no contact with the victim.
But on Oct. 18, LeMond’s probation was terminated early by Manatee County Judge Heather Doyle at the request of his attorney. Doyle was the chief assistant state attorney at the time formal charges were filed against LeMond, before being appointed to the bench by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
A third corrections deputy, veteran Daniel Bower, was also charged with battery in 2019. His case is still pending.
Bower resigned on May 10 after an internal affairs investigation concluded that on April 20 he had kicked a disruptive inmate in the mouth after handcuffing him. Bower also tried to describe the battery as reactionary, calling it a “knee jerk reaction” to professional standards investigators. But Bower, a defensive tactics instructor, had taught recruits at the corrections academy about use of force and cell extraction techniques.
Bower was charged with battery in June, but a trial date has not been set in the case.
Bower, as had Valentin and LeMond, faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine, the maximum penalty for misdemeanor battery.
Another former jail deputy who was charged with felony battery after he pinned an inmate to a wall before throwing him on the ground on June 23, 2017, breaking his nose and teeth, Paul Wagner, also got a plea deal in 2019.
Facing up to five years in prison, Wagner was sentenced to four months in jail as part of a negotiated plea agreement.
This story was originally published January 7, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
