Twelve Springfield police officers, one retired officer and a former officer who now works for the Massachusetts State Police have been indicted on allegations of participating in or lying about the 2015 off-duty beating of a group of men after an argument at a Springfield bar.

Two men affiliated with Nathan Bill’s Bar and Restaurant -- co-owner John Sullivan and manager Joseph Sullivan -- are also facing indictments for misleading investigators.

The indictments were filed Wednesday by a Worcester-based statewide grand jury. The Attorney General’s Office first put the case before a grand jury in February of 2018, reviving the criminal case after Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni declined to press charges in early 2017.

Seven men have been accused of participating in the alleged attack and are facing charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery with serious bodily injury, assault and battery and conspiracy:

-Springfield Police Officer Daniel Billingsley, age 30, of Springfield

-Springfield Police Officer Anthony Cicero, age 29, of Hampden

-Springfield Police Officer Christian Cicero, age 28, of Longmeadow

-Springfield Police Officer Igor Basovskiy, age 34, of Springfield

-Springfield Police Officer Jameson Williams, age 33, of East Longmeadow

-Springfield Police Officer Jose Diaz, 54, of Springfield

-Nathan Bills Bar & Restaurant Owner John Sullivan, age 34, of Springfield

The Sullivans, Diaz and eight other people are accused of lying about or covering up the attack and have been indicted on a range of charges.

-John Sullivan: Misleading a federal agent/investigator

-Springfield Police Officer Jose Diaz: Misleading a police officer/investigator

-Springfield Police Officer Darren Nguyen, age 40, of Holland: Perjury, misleading a police officer/investigator, filing a false police report

-Springfield Police Officer Shavonne Lewis, age 29, of Springfield: Perjury, misleading a police officer/investigator, filing a false police report

-Retired Springfield Police Sergeant Louis Bortolussi, age 57, of East Longmeadow: Perjury, misleading a police officer/investigator, filing a false police report

-Springfield Police Officer Derrick Gentry-Mitchell, age 29, of Springfield: Perjury, misleading a police officer/investigator, filing a false police report

-Springfield Police Officer James D’Amour, age 42, of Hampden: Perjury, misleading a police officer/investigator, filing a false police report

-Springfield Police Officer John Wajdula, age 34, of Springfield: Perjury, misleading a police officer/investigator, filing a false police report

-Current Massachusetts State Police trooper and Former Springfield Police Officer Nathaniel Perez, age 27, of West Springfield: Perjury, misleading a police officer/investigator, filing a false police report

-Springfield Police Officer Melissa Rodriguez, age 32, of Springfield: Perjury

-Bar manager Joseph Sullivan, age 42, of Hampden: Perjury, misleading a police officer/investigator.

Gulluni said in 2017 that while Herman Paul Cumby, Jozelle Ligon, Jackie Ligon and Michael Cintron were victims of an assault, their description of their alleged attackers were too inconsistent to hold up in court.

But the AG’s investigation has already yielded criminal charges against six officers, in addition to the indictments released Wednesday. Officers Daniel Billingsley, Christian Cicero, Anthony Cicero, Igor Basovskiy, Jose Diaz and Jameson Williams are facing counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy in Springfield District Court. All have pleaded not guilty.

“Mr. Cumby is relieved that the justice system is holding those involved in the incidents of 4/8/2015 accountable,” Cumby’s attorney Michelle Cruz said in a statment. “It’s been a long journey.”

While most of the officers charged have remained circumspect about their cases, Billingsley has forcefully pushed back on the allegations, with his attorney Shawn Allyn saying that Cumby was the aggressor in the fight.

“The [government] calls the truth perjury but a jury will decide the truth in this case,” Allyn wrote in a text message.

John M. Fitzgerald, Basovskiy’s attorney, said his client maintains his innocence.

John Sullivan’s attorney, Jared Olanoff, released a statement after his district court arraignment denying the charges and saying that the AG’s Office was seeking to “punish him for owning the bar where the verbal argument between the parties occurred hours earlier.”

After the altercation in April of 2015, few could have imagined it would still remain unresolved nearly four years later. But the case has continued to haunt the department, sparking internal, state and federal investigations as well as lawsuits which have already cost the City of Springfield $885,000 in settlements.

The DA's report found that the men were getting drinks at Nathan Bill's when an argument began between Jozelle Ligon and a group of off-duty officers at the bar.

Cumby and Ligon have said that Jozelle was whistling at a bartender for a drink, but that Billingsley accused him of whistling at Rodriguez, his then-girlfriend. Billingsley and Rodriguez were at the bar with fellow officers Christian Cicero and Anthony Cicero, according to the department’s Internal Investigations Unit report.

After a verbal argument, which Cumby and Jackie Ligon said they attempted to defuse, Billingsley allegedly told staff that the men were not welcome in the bar. At that point, the dispute remained tense but peaceful. Uniformed police officers responded to the bar but made no arrests.

Cumby and his group left the bar, where they separated, with Cumby walking down the street while speaking to his girlfriend on the phone and the Ligons and Cintron waiting in the parking lot of a nearby store for Cumby to return and drive them home, according to interviews with the alleged victims.

Cumby, who has said he was afraid he would be targeted and pulled over if he drove away while the off-duty officers were still at the bar, reunited with the other men around 2 a.m. He saw a crowd of 10 to 15 men bearing down on them, he said.

Billingsley was at the head of the pack, Cumby and his cousins alleged in their lawsuits.

Billingsley allegedly began yelling at the men and hit Jozelle. Jackie said he threw a punch in return, and Cumby - who has said he was trying to peacefully end the fight -- was allegedly struck from behind by a baton and knocked unconscious.

Billingsley disputes this account, with his attorney saying that Cumby struck the officer, causing an injury to his head.

According to the department’s internal investigation of the incident, six of the officers indicted for allegedly lying about the incident -- Nguyen, Lewis, D’Amour, Gentry-Mitchell, Bortolussi and Perez -- were not involved in the altercation but were on-duty and responded in uniform to the scene.

Nguyen authored the initial police report on the incident, filing a brief account that did not mention the allegation that off-duty officers were involved in the fight and understating the extent of Cumby’s injuries.

“All appear to have some type of minor cuts and scrapes about their hands and faces,” officer Darren Nguyen’s report said. “[They] were offered medical attention. AMR arrived on scene to render services and all refused further medical treatment at the hospital. Mr. Jozelle and others couldn’t describe their attackers and was very uncooperative.”

Cumby had actually suffered a fractured leg and had teeth knocked loose, according to medical records reviewed by MassLive.

He initially sought to file a complaint at Springfield Police headquarters, but left after being kept waiting in the lobby for hours, according to both him and internal police emails obtained by MassLive in a public records request. He eventually filed a complaint in May, sparking the series of investigations that led up to Wednesday’s indictments.

Internal disciplinary measures against a dozen officers who were either allegedly involved in the fight or responded to it afterwards are still on hold, pending the results of the criminal cases.