NationofChange Fourth officer charged in excessive force case The maximum penalty for the deprivation-of-rights offenses is 10 years of imprisonment and the maximum penalty for false report offenses is 20 years of imprisonment. After three Indiana police officers were previously indicted for severely beating arrestees and attempting to cover up their illicit actions, a fourth officer was recently charged with obstruction related to another incident of excessive force. In March 2020, Muncie Police Officer Joseph Chase Winkle, Sergeant Joseph Krejsa, and Officer Jeremy Gibson were charged in a 12-count indictment accusing Winkle and Gibson of using excessive force against arrestees while Krejsa wrote false reports to clear Winkle’s civil rights violations on at least two occasions. On Wednesday, the Justice Department announced that a federal grand jury in Indianapolis, Indiana, returned a 17-count superseding indictment charging three officers and one sergeant of the Muncie Police Department with excessive force and obstruction.