Former Weymouth police officer pleads guilty to assaulting man in custody

A former Weymouth police officer is facing up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to federal charges for punching a man in custody over a dozen times, officials said. 

Justin Chappell, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law after being charged federally earlier this month. His scheduling is sentenced for July 16, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts said in a statement. 

Chappell was an officer with the Weymouth Police Department at the time of the incident on July 2, 2022, when he responded to a call about an allegedly intoxicated man causing a disturbance. While attempting to place the man in the police cruiser after arresting him, Chappell punched him approximately 13 times “with a closed fist without legal justification,” according to the District Attorney’s Office. 

“The punches caused obvious pain and visible injuries to the man’s head,” the office said in the statement.

Chapell was charged April 3. Separate investigations by the Weymouth Police Department and the state’s Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission found that Chappell used excessive force in the incident. 

Chappell resigned from the department days after the July 2022 incident and the states’ POST Commission revoked his certification as an officer in January. 

The charge of deprivation of rights resulting in bodily injury provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

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