December 10, 2010 Former TSA agent sentenced to prison over civil violations www.privateofficer.com
Rome GA Dec 10 2010 In a courtroom filled with family and emotions a former Department of Homeland Security officer was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Dec. 9, after being found guilty for a host of civil rights violations.
In July, Stephen House was found guilty in U.S. District Court in Rome on eight counts of violating several people’s civil rights by making false traffic stops and four counts of filing false police reports while he was a Homeland Security official.
House is a former Rome police officer.
According to March indictment, House made several illegal traffic stops between July 28, 2006, and April 15, 2009, using his federally issued vehicle.
Nearly a dozen of House’s closest friends and family members attended the sentencing hearing held in Judge Robert L. Vining’s courtroom. His mother Charlotte House approached the judge and asked for leniency, saying that she and House’s 9-year-old son both depend on him.
House’s attorney, Marcia G. Shein, said the family’s love and trust of the man was evidence that he was a decent person and when not employed as a police officer would not harm anyone.
“If not in his uniform and not in his (police) car, he won’t act out,” Shein said.
The defendant’s attorney contended that her client did not know he was breaking the law when making these stops.
“If he had known the domino effect these stops created, he wouldn’t have made them,” Shein said.
She also told the judge that House had taken responsibility for his actions in a letter written to the judge. However, Judge Vining did not agree that House had taken responsibility for his actions.
“I really don’t think he has taken responsibility, considering what I heard at trial,” Vining said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William McKinnon requested an 18 months sentence, which he felt was long enough to show other officers the dangers of abusing power.
“Mr. House thought the rules did not apply to him,” McKinnon said. “He demonstrated a pattern of abuse.”
McKinnon also pointed out that House was disciplined by law enforcement agencies in Rome, Adairsville and Cobb County and ultimately lost his Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) certification before he was ever arrested for violating anyone’s rights.
“It is rare for a law enforcement officer not convicted of a crime to be decertified by POST,” McKinnon said.
House could have received a sentence up to three years in prison.
“The government is more generous than I was going to be,” the judge said.
Cries of joy could be heard from House’s family when he was granted a $10,000 bond pending an appeal.
“I am not concerned about granting you bond,” Vining said. “You have got nowhere to run.”
Vining gave House two rules of bond, he could have no contact with the jurors that found him guilty and he could have no contact with the people who testified against him.
He was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and once he serves his 18-month sentence and was additionally sentenced to three years supervised release.
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