Deputy U.S. Marshal indicted, charged with assaulting suspects

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Updated: February 14, 2012 10:31AM

A deputy U.S. Marshal who once hunted fugitives and also worked in the federal courthouse in Chicago was charged with civil rights violations after he allegedly twice assaulted a handcuffed civilian.

He is the second deputy U.S. Marshal federally charged in recent years.

Stephen Linder, 36, of Chicago, is accused of punching and choking a handcuffed man on July 8, 2010, and then of trying to convince another law enforcement officer to withhold evidence of the assault, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is handling the case.

Linder, who served with the marshals for more than eight years, was also charged with a criminal civil rights violation for allegedly head-butting a handcuffed man on May 13, 2008, and with obstructing justice by persuading another law enforcement officer to withhold evidence of that prior assault.

Linder most recently worked in the lock-up at the Dirksen Federal courthouse but before that was a member of the U.S. Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force, where he made myriad arrests and “chased down the worst of the worst,” according to his defense lawyer.

“He is going to plead not guilty because he is not guilty and he is going to trial,” said his attorney, Frank Lipuma. “We’re going to be facing some of the weakest evidence presented in that building and we will be vindicated.”