BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) -- A former Baton Rouge police officer whose malfeasance in office conviction was upheld by the Louisiana Supreme Court was sentenced Thursday.
Donald Steele Jr., 38, was sentenced to serve two months. His defense attorney plans to seek an appeal.
Judge Eboni Johnson Rose found Steele guilty of misdemeanor malfeasance in office after a bench trial, but later reversed her verdict and acquitted Steele after no such charge existed. The Louisiana Court of Appeal First Circuit reinstated the conviction, and the state Supreme Court upheld the conviction.
Steele was accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in 2021. An affidavit said Steele told the victim to follow him to the airport, but he instead led her to a warehouse near the Hollywood Casino.