Marion, IL police officer Dustin Lingle accused of kicking a handcuffed suspect has agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of deprivation of rights as part of a plea agreement earlier this month.

BENTON — A former Marion police officer accused of kicking a handcuffed suspect has agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of deprivation of rights as part of a plea agreement earlier this month.

In an agreement with the civil rights division of the U.S Department of Justice, Dustin Lingle admitted to kicking a suspect in the buttocks without legal justification while “acting under color of law as a po-lice officer for the Marion Police Department,” according to court documents,

The kick came when the suspect had his hands cuffed behind his back and was lying face-down on the holding area floor of the Marion police station on Feb. 10.

“By kicking (the suspect) in the buttocks without legal justification, defendant Lingle willfully de-prived (the suspect) of his constitutional right not to be subjected to unreasonable use of force by a police officer,” according to the documents.

Lingle, who resigned from the police department shortly after the incident, will be sentenced Nov. 22 in federal court in Benton. Maximum penalty for a class A misdemeanor is not more than one year im-prisonment, a $100,000 fine or both.

Also as part of the agreement, Lingle will not seek or accept any law enforcement employment for a period of five years from the entry of his guilty plea.

Lingle could not be reached for comment and his attorney Daniel Kay had no comment on the agree-ment.