Plea deal ends one MDC beating case

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - It was a brutal case caught on surveillance video as three Metropolitan Detention Center guards beat an inmate.

The U.S. Attorney saw it as a violation of civil rights, and on Wednesday one of those guards, Demetrio Gonzales, took a plea deal.

Gonzales faced two counts of violation of civil rights. He pleaded guilty to one and could face up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

The charges stem from a beating last December at MDC.

The FBI investigation identified the victim as Christopher Shields, who was booked for aggravated DWI.

Surveillance showed Shields being taken into the photo room where Gonzales got in Shields' face and then slammed him against the wall.

At one point, Shields tried to push the 6-foot-4 nearly 300-pound guard off, but Gonzales is seen kneeing Shields again and again.

In the plea agreement Gonzales admitted he hit Shields repeatedly, choked him and that the beating was not justified.

Two other guards, Kevin Casaus and Matthew Pendley, are also charged after they took the inmate into the shower room. However, there was no camera there.

Casaus faces violation of the victims civil rights and obstruction of justice. Pendley is charged with obstruction of justice and tampering.

Both have denied the charges and pleaded not guilty.

All of the guards were fired. Casaus and Pendley's trials are set to begin on Jan. 7 in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque.

A sentencing date for Gonzales has not been set.