A former Alabama police sergeant has pleaded guilty to depriving an arrestee of his civil rights under the color of law.

Ryan Phillips, who served with the Daleville Police Department, hit a city jail inmate multiple times on March 1, 2022. He was subsequently fired.

The guilty plea was announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Middle District of Alabama U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Authorities said Phillips willfully used unreasonable force against an arrestee identified in court records only as “D.M.”

The victim was inside a jail cell when he and Phillips got into a verbal altercation.

Phillips removed his badge and gun, entered the cell and repeatedly hit the inmate in the upper body and face. The inmate sustained lacerations and bruising.

Daleville, Alabama, Police Department sergeant, Ryan Phillips, pleaded guilty yesterday to depriving an arrestee of his civil rights under color of law.

“When police officers violate the law and abuse their power, it erodes the community’s trust in the ability of law enforcement to keep them safe and to preserve their rights,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This defendant abused his power by entering the cell of an arrestee to violently strike him in the face and upper body without cause or reason.”

A sentencing hearing has not yet been set. Phillips faces up to 10 years in prison.

“Although police officers are granted authority to maintain law and order, that authority has its limits,” said Middle District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Ross. “The defendant lost his composure and beat an arrestee inside his cell. This type of excessive force cannot be tolerated.”

The FBI Mobile Field Office investigated the case.

“Ryan Phillips clearly violated his position of public trust,” said Acting Assistant Director Jodi Cohen of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “Law enforcement officers take an oath to protect and serve all people and Phillips betrayed that trust.”