Ex-sheriff's deputy pleads guilty to excessive force

A former Cook County sheriff's deputy pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to a misdemeanor civil rights violation for yanking on an inmate's ankle shackles, flipping him forward onto a concrete floor and breaking his nose.

Rafael Munoz, 39, of Chicago entered the guilty plea to the charge of using unreasonable force at his arraignment in U.S. District Court in Chicago. At his Dec. 10 sentencing, he faces a sentence of up to a year in prison.

In his plea agreement, the former Cook County sheriff's deputy admitted causing the inmate to slam face first onto the floor. The incident occurred in 2010 at a county detention facility in Maywood.

According to the plea agreement, the inmate -- who is not identified by name in court papers -- never resisted the deputy's orders. It also says Munoz filed three false reports about the incident.

Munoz became a sheriff's deputy in 2006 and resigned last year.