President Donald Trump granted a full pardon to a former Prince George’s County police officer Wednesday, amid several other pardons and commutations given that day.
The former canine officer, Stephanie Mohr, was convicted of a federal civil rights violation in 2001 for setting her police dog on a homeless man in 1995.
The man was one of two people who had been stopped during a search for burglars in Takoma Park, prosecutors said. He suffered a bite wound on his leg that required 10 stitches.
Mohr’s conviction came after several incidents of force involving police dogs in the county. She was believed to be the first county officer ever found guilty of a federal civil rights violation at trial, according to The Washington Post, which called Mohr’s conviction a “rare victory” amid a Justice Department probe into alleged brutality and discrimination within the county police department. She served ten years in federal prison and was released in 2011.
Mohr is one of 29 individuals the president pardoned or gave commutations to on Wednesday.
