A former New Castle police officer has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of deprivation of civil rights.

U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady announced Friday the one-count indictment of Ronald Williams, 40, of New Castle, who pleaded not guilty Friday afternoon and was released pending trial.

The indictment was returned Thursday and opened Friday.

The charge stems from an incident on April 23, 2018, when Williams was on duty.

According to the indictment, Williams, “willfully deprived an individual identified as P.L. of his right to be free from unreasonable seizure by repeatedly slamming P.L.'s face into a floor surface, without justification, thereby causing bodily injury to P.L.”

The victim, Perry Lawry, 49, of Slippery Rock, filed the civil rights complaint in May 2018, which by November of 2018 was dismissed with prejudice.

In arresting documents filed in Lawrence County, police charged Lawry with misdemeanor counts of simple assault and resisting arrest and a summary count of harassment after what Williams said was a chaotic scene inside the apartment of Lawry's girlfriend, Toni Kelly.

According to court documents, Williams was the second officer to respond to the scene, where Lawry was allegedly drunk and involved in a scuffle with his girlfriend's son.

Kelly's son used his phone to record Lawry's interaction with police, which later led to Williams' firing from the department, documents show.

Williams said he stunned Lawry three times with a Taser without effect, before grabbing a grounded Lawry. He said Lawry was on his stomach when the officer “gave him three thrusts shoving his chest and head into the floor until he stop (sic) resisting ... ”

In a news conference in May of 2018 regarding civil proceedings, Lawry's lawyer, Al Lindsay, said Lawry was punched without reason by Kelly's son and did not resist arrest.

It also was noted that at the time Lawry could not work, had daily pain and suffered daily due to his injuries.

The law provides a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric G. Olshan is prosecuting on behalf of the government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General conducted the investigation leading to the indictment.