Report: Feds scuttled Seattle deputy plea

SEATTLE, June 29 (UPI) -- Court documents reveal a Seattle-area deputy sheriff was offered a plea deal in the alleged beating of a young female jail inmate.

Documents obtained by Seattlepi.com said the deal fell through when U.S. Justice Department officials in Washington refused to endorse it.

King County Deputy Paul Schene was awaiting a possible indictment Monday on civil rights charges that could land him in prison for more than three years, if convicted, as opposed to a maximum nine months in jail under the quashed plea deal.

He also faces trial on a state misdemeanor assault charge in September.

Schene is accused of roughing up a teenage girl in a holding cell after she kicked her shoe at him.