FULTON, N.Y. -- A decorated veteran police sergeant has pleaded guilty to beating a handcuffed man and now faces up to 10 years in prison.

Joseph R. Arigo, 47, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law, according to a news release from the Justice Department.

The DOJ news release doesn't name the person Arigo admitted to beating, but court documents obtained by syracuse.com indicate it was Gary E. Bloss.

On the night of June 28, Bloss was arrested by several officers on a parole warrant. Bloss had been on parole for just a few weeks on a burglary charge in Onondaga County, according to the state Division of Parole. Officer Sean Hanks responded to assist and said in a deposition that Bloss was taken into custody by another officer after a foot chase. Bloss was found hiding under a porch.

Joseph R. Arigo

Bloss was taken to the Fulton Police Department. He was seated on a bench in the booking room with his hands cuffed behind his back.

"Upon my return, Gary was sitting on the bench in the booking room," Hanks said in a deposition. "Gary was yelling at officers about him not doing anything and how he wasn't going to serve much time. He started calling me names."

According to the DOJ news release, Arigo was sitting at the sergeant's desk when Bloss was brought into the police department.

At one point, Arigo walked into the booking room and told Bloss to be quiet.

"We argued back and forth a little bit," Bloss said in a deposition. "Sgt. Arigo started choking and punching me. Sgt. Arigo punched me eight times in the head and face."

"While Gary was arguing with me Sgt. Arigo walked into the booking room," Hanks said in a deposition. "Sgt. Arigo pushed Gary down onto the bench and began punching him."

The DOJ said Arigo walked into the room were Bloss was being held and "shoved his head into the bench, and punched him in the head multiple times."

"I then said 'Look dumb dumb you're on camera," Bloss said in a deposition.

Arigo also pulled the video camera out of the wall to stop it from recording, the DOJ said.

"Sgt. Arigo was yelling at Gary that he told him not to disrespect him in his house," Hanks said. "Sgt. Arigo hit him several times and I left the booking room."

"The whole thing caught me off guard," Hanks said. "Sgt. Arigo is the sergeant and I didn't want to attempt to step in, not knowing how he would have reacted."

Hanks walked out to the dispatch desk where he noticed the screen that displays the surveillance cameras was blank. He walked back into to the booking room and found Arigo looking in the first aid kit.

Bloss began dripping blood on the floor. Bloss said Arigo started cleaning the blood on the floor, left the room and another officer came in and asked Bloss questions.

"I told him I wanted a lawyer," Bloss said. "Any questions the officers asked me I responded with 'I want a lawyer.'"

Bloss was placed in a holding cell. He said he felt sick and light-headed and blacked out.

Hanks said he later returned to the police department to find medical personnel checking on Bloss, who was taken to Oswego Hospital. He suffered cuts, bruising and required seven stitches.

Arigo also lied to his supervisors and in two official reports "in an attempt to conceal his actions," the DOJ said.

"The next day Sgt. Arigo addressed the crew and stated that he should not have done what he did and set a bad example," Hanks said.

Arigo joined the Fulton Police Department in 1996 and was promoted to sergeant in 2010. He is a trained crime scene and evidence technician, accident reconstruction technician, crisis negotiator and a police field training officer, who has been responsible for assisting in the training of many newer officers. He is a decorated police veteran, having received multiple awards as well as mayoral commendations for his outstanding service to the department and community.

Initially, Arigo was charged by Fulton police with third-degree assault, making a punishable false written statement and second-degree falsifying business records. It wasn't clear when the DOJ began handling the case, but DOJ said that the FBI had investigated the incident.

Arigo is set to be sentenced in January.