Judge imposes maximum penalty on former police officer charged with official oppression
Professing his innocence, former Monongahela police Officer Dustin DeVault said he’d “rather have a bullet put through” his head than take advantage of a woman.
DeVault, 48, pleaded “no contest” to a charge of official oppression that the state attorney general’s office revealed nearly a year ago based on a grand jury presentment.
In a “no contest” plea, a defendant does not admit guilt, and that was evident when Judge Valarie Costanzo told DeVault he had the right to address the court.
The former officer said, “I’m honest. I did not commit any of these crimes.
“I know there is a higher court. When I stand before the Lord, you will know I’m not lying. I’ve never touched any female. If I was guilty of that, I’d rather have a bullet put through my head.”
Deputy Attorney General Patrick Schulte, also given the opportunity to speak, said, “I’m stunned by (DeVault’s) lack of responsibility and accountability. He said the victim is lying. Everyone is lying except the defendant” who “assigns blame for this to everyone but himself.”
The woman who told the grand jury that DeVault inappropriately touched her and asked her to engage in sex with him was not present in court Wednesday, but she submitted a victim impact statement.
The victim has also sued DeVault in Washington County Court. Her attorney, Al Lindsay of Butler, identified her in a video news conference as Jesse Cimino of Westmoreland County.
Cimino alleges she first met DeVault in the summer of 2018 when the officer pulled over her vehicle on Route 88 in Union Township for having a burned-out taillight. He did not issue her a ticket and later promised to help her become a police officer or a soldier.
Dismissed were additional second-degree misdemeanor charges of indecent assault and obstructing the administration of law June 1 when DeVault entered an open plea to official oppression.
Invoking state sentencing guidelines, Costanzo imposed the maximum penalty – two years’ probation – on DeVault for someone who has no prior record.
She also ordered him to pay a $5,000 fine – again, the maximum – although DeVault’s attorney, Almon S. Burke, unsuccessfully asked for a lesser amount.
“Especially during COVID-10, you never know if your job is going to continue or not,” Burke said after the proceeding.
After five years as a police officer, DeVault is earning $17 an hour as a truck driver supplying Lowe’s home improvement stores, and he supports five children.
Although he was arrested for drunken driving and was admitted to the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program, it happened so many years ago that it was discounted for sentencing purposes.
Heather DeVault, the defendant’s wife of eight years, testified she had known him since childhood and said her husband has a good reputation in their community for doing his job, sometimes to a fault.
Burke, a former Washington County assistant district attorney and federal prosecutor, said police officers find themselves in difficult situations every day and “people they’re dealing with are not necessarily telling the truth.” He said he considers police work to be one of the most difficult jobs in society.
“Our No. 1 goal in this prosecution is that this man never be a police officer again,” Schulte said outside the courtroom. “He can never be a police officer as long as he’s on this side of the grass. He doesn’t have to admit guilt.”