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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Former Louisville Metro Police Department officer Cory Evans pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to a felony committed while on the job, admitting he struck a kneeling protester in the back of the head with a riot stick.

Evans, 33 of Sellersburg, Indiana, was charged June 9 with deprivation of rights under color of law for the incident, which took place around May 31, 2020, in the early days of widespread protests over the death of Breonna Taylor, an unarmed Black woman who LMPD officers killed in her apartment March 2020 during a search for drugs and cash.

District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings will sentence Evans at 10 a.m. Nov. 23. He will remain free on bond until then, with Grady Jennings saying Evans was unlikely to flee.

Evans and his defense attorney Brian Butler agreed to a plea deal with Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Gregory, but it has yet to be accepted by the judge.

As a part of the agreement, Evans would have to pay $1,962.85 in restitution and would not be sentenced to serve more than four years in prison.

The charge’s maximum penalty can carry up to 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release and restitution.

“While the vast majority of law enforcement officers are hardworking professionals who work conscientiously to protect the public, Cory Evans was simply not one of those officers,” Acting Special Agent in Charge Edward Gray of the FBI’s Louisville Field Office said in a news release after the hearing.

“This case provides another example that abusing that power and authority will not be tolerated in Louisville.”

If the case had gone to trial, Gregory said the prosecution would have presented testimony, video and other evidence proving Evans’ guilt.

Gregory said Evans was working curfew duty for the LMPD Special Response Team when they encountered a group of protesters — including the victim, who is identified only as M.C. — near Brook Street and Broadway in downtown Louisville.

M.C. had kneeled and raised their hands to surrender when Evans struck them in the back of the head, creating a gash that required stitches at the hospital that night.

M.C. did not make a request to be heard in court.

As a part of his bond, Evans is required to submit to supervision and surrender his passport and any guns he owns. Grady Jennings indicated she will allow Evans to travel to Texas for three weeks in order to train for a new job he will soon begin.

Evans resigned from LMPD less than a week after being charged and after the department moved to fire him.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division can charge individuals under nine Title 18 civil rights statutes, including deprivation of rights under the color of law.

That makes it a crime for anyone acting on behalf of the law, including police officers or other public officials, to deprive someone of their Constitutional rights.

Evans was previously scheduled to be arraigned and enter a “change of plea” on July 14, but the judge agreed to delay the hearing after a joint motion from the case’s attorneys.

According to Kentucky law, police officers lose their certification with the state for pleading guilty to or being convicted of a felony offense.

A Courier Journal analysis of Evans’ use of force history shows he was involved in at least 27 incidents in his roughly seven years as a sworn officer — including two that took place after he is accused of hitting the demonstrator.

In fact, 21 of those incidents took place between the beginning of 2018 and June 2020. LMPD did not limit Evans’ policing powers until July 23 when he was placed on administrative reassignment.

“A professional standards investigation was initiated,” a LMPD spokesperson said. “However, it was stayed in deference of the federal investigations to ensure it would not impede the federal process.”

Evans is not the only LMPD officer under federal scrutiny.

Dusten Dean, captured on video shooting pepper balls at a local TV news crew, is under federal investigation for those actions, The Courier Journal previously reported.

These probes are in addition to the FBI’s ongoing investigations into the fatal police shooting of Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman killed in her home last March, and the death of David McAtee, who was shot by a member of the Kentucky National Guard.

Reach Tessa Duvall at [email protected] and 502-582-4059. Twitter: @TessaDuvall.