HILLSDALE COUNTY, MI (WNWN/WTVB) – A Marshall man entered guilty pleas to charges of Misconduct in Office and Aggravated Assault on Tuesday for assaulting a female Hillsdale County jail inmate under his supervision at the Hillsdale County Jail in December of 2021.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the plea agreement for 44-year-old Ronald Leggitt who was employed as a Sergeant by the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Department at the time of the incident.
As part of the plea agreement, Nessel says Leggitt has relinquished his MCOLES certification, a requisite for employment as a police officer in the state of Michigan.
Nessel said in a statement released by her office, “With this conviction, Mr. Leggitt has been stripped of his ability to serve as a police officer in Michigan, preventing him from harming others who would have been under his authority. My Department remains committed to holding accountable those who abuse their positions.”
Leggitt was charged in March with Misconduct in Office and six counts of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon. He is scheduled to be sentenced on January 29, 2025, in Jackson County Circuit Court.
Leggitt was accused of spraying mace or pepper spray into a female inmate’s face from inches away in the early morning hours of December 16th, 2021.
During five of the six assaults, the victim was secured in an emergency restraint chair, where she was restrained in wrist and ankle cuffs as well as a chest restraint.
The woman is said to have resisted officers during the arrest. During the booking process at the jail, it was reported she continued to exhibit resistant and disruptive behavior.
Hillsdale County Sheriff Scott Hodshire placed Leggitt on unpaid administrative leave pending the outcome of the case this past March after he found out about the charges being filed by the Attorney General.
The Sheriff was contacted by the Michigan State Police six days after the alleged incident which led to an internal investigation by the Sheriff’s Office.
Comments