Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York | Department of Justice
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, has announced that Mario Stewart, a Sergeant with the Mount Vernon Police Department (MVPD), has been sentenced to six months in prison. U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas delivered the sentence following Stewart's use of excessive force against an individual experiencing a mental health crisis in 2019.
"New Yorkers depend daily on the women and men of law enforcement," stated U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. "We trust them to keep us safe, to act in line with their training, and to respect our individual rights."
The incident occurred on March 26, 2019, when Stewart was working as a Sergeant with MVPD's Emergency Services Unit. He and other officers responded to assist an individual undergoing a mental health crisis in Mount Vernon, New York. The victim was restrained by officers but continued holding onto a strap from a restraint bag.
Stewart directed the victim to release the strap before deploying his taser seven times while the victim remained handcuffed and secured on the ground. This resulted in bodily injury and extreme pain for the victim.
In sentencing Stewart, Judge Karas emphasized that law enforcement must not cross clear lines despite challenging job conditions: "The people of Mount Vernon have to know that they will not be themselves victims of their law enforcement officers."
Stewart, aged 46 from Brooklyn, New York, also received six months of home confinement as part of his sentence.
Jay Clayton commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its investigative work and thanked both the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office and MVPD for their assistance. The case is being managed by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sam Adelsberg and Jared Hoffman from the Civil Rights Unit in the Criminal Division.
