The Paterson officer who admitted striking a man in a hospital and selling drugs while on duty will head to prison for more than five years. Ruben McAusland, 27, pleaded guilty last year to selling marijuana, heroin, and powder and crack cocaine that he stole from a crime scene. McAusland sold the drugs to a person working with law enforcement, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said in a statement. Later, McAusland sold that person two pounds of marijuana, and pills that resembled Percocet but were actually made of heroin. He also “lost his temper” on March 5, 2018 at a hospital with a man who had just attempted suicide. The fire department took the man to St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Paterson and McAusland and another officer met him there. McAusland first met the man, who was in a wheelchair, in the hospital waiting room. He pushed the man and punched him in the face, Carpenito said. Later, in the man’s hospital room, McAusland put on a pair of gloves and struck the man twice in the face. The man had multiple facial injuries from the beating, including an eye injury that required surgery. The other officer, Roger Then, is awaiting sentencing on charges that he filmed the hospital room assault on his phone and falsified reports to hide the beating. U.S. District Judge William H. Walls levied the sentence Wednesday in Newark federal court. McAusland will face three years of supervised release and must pay $32,892 in restitution. “Through prosecutions like this one, police officers like McAusland – who dealt drugs, stole from a crime scene, and viciously attacked a person who sought help from the Paterson Police Department – are removed from positions where they can violate the public trust and deprive others of their civil rights under color of law,” Carpenito said in the statement. -This story has been updated to reflect that the man was not in handcuffs when McAusland struck him. Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JBrandt_NJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters.<doc-sep>Crime & Safety Paterson Cop Gets 6 Month Sentence For Hospital Attack Roger Then, 29, hid the civil rights committed by his partner, Ruben McAusland, authorities said. Reply Roger Then, 29, leaves court. He was sentenced to 6 months in prison for trying to hide the assault by his partner. (YouTube screenshot) PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ — A Paterson police officer was sentenced to six months in prison Tuesday for hiding the assault of an attempted suicide victim by his partner last year. Roger Then, 29, of Paterson, was charged with misprision of felony for hiding the civil rights crime committed by his partner, Ruben McAusland, 27, of Paterson. Then previously pleaded guilty to the charge. U.S. District Judge William Martini handed down the sentence in Newark federal court Tuesday, said U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito. Then recorded an encounter on his cell phone he and McAusland had with a suicide victim at St. Joseph's Medical Center on March 5, 2018, authorities previously said. McAusland previously admitted that, while the victim was on his back in a hospital bed, he put on a pair of hospital gloves and violently struck him twice across the face, according to authorities. In another encounter earlier at the hospital, Then allegedly grabbed the victim by the neck and pushed him into the ground. Then and McAusland submitted a police report about what happened. The report did not mention Then grabbing the victim and McAusland hitting him, twice. The victim suffered multiple injuries to his face, including an eye injury that required surgery, as a result of these assaults. The incidents were part of an FBI probe that led to other Paterson police officers being arrested, as identified by The Record: Daniel Pent, 32, Eudy Ramos, Jonathan Bustios, McAusland, Then, and Matthew Torres. (See related: At Least 4 NJ Cops Busted In FBI Probe, Brutal Video Assault) McAusland was sentenced Wednesday to 66 months in prison. According to the charges filed against him, he also distributed narcotics multiple times, including drugs he stole from a crime scene while on duty.<doc-sep>PATERSON, New Jersey -- A former New Jersey police officer who admitted dealing drugs was caught on camera brutally assaulting a suicidal man -- twice.Federal prosecutors sentenced ex-Paterson officer Ruben McAusland to nearly six years in jail Wednesday for both crimes. He also must pay $32,892 in restitution.The U.S. Attorney's office released the video this week of 27-year-old McAusland, on duty and in uniform, assaulting a patient at St. Joseph's Regional Hospital in March 2018.First, surveillance video caught McAusland pushing and punching the man, who was in a wheelchair in a waiting room full of people.Then the patient, lying in his hospital bed, tells the officer "do it" before McAusland slaps him twice across the face, so hard that blood sprays onto the bed. The man had an eye injury that required surgery.The patient, identified as Andrew Casciano, has filed a $4 million lawsuit against the city.Another officer, Roger Then, recorded video of the assault with his cell phone. He has pleaded guilty in the hospital assault.McAusland pleaded guilty last June to possessing drugs with the intent to distribute and depriving the patient of his civil rights.Prosecutors say McAusland distributed heroin, crack cocaine, powder cocaine, and marijuana on multiple occasions to someone who was cooperating with law enforcement.In some cases, the former officer stole drugs from a crime scene while on duty.<doc-sep>
A former Paterson police officer who recorded a video of himself smiling before watching a fellow cop beat a hospital patient last year was sentenced Tuesday to six months in federal prison for his attempts to cover up the assault. Roger Then was also given a year of supervised release when he was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William H. Walls on Tuesday in Newark, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. Then, 29, of Paterson, was accused of pushing a hospital patient who earlier attempted suicide and later recorded another cop beating the man. Then pleaded guilty in December to a single charge of misprision of felony - or concealing the assault by his partner, Ruben McAusland. Then and Ruben McAusland went to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in the city on March 5, 2018, to monitor a man who had been hospitalized after attempting suicide, authorities said. The first of the two assaults was captured on the hospital’s surveillance video. It shows McAusland pushing the victim’s wheelchair with his hands and punching the man in the face near the admissions desk after the man threw medical glove boxes at the staff. Moments later, Then grabbed the man by the back of the neck and pushed the falling wheelchair further toward the floor. The second took place while Then and McAusland were watching the man as he lay in a hospital bed. Then hit record on his cell phone, smiled into the camera and turned it toward McAusland as his partner put on a pair of hospital gloves and struck the man in the face after the patient directed an expletive toward him. An incident report filed by the officers' didn’t mention either assault. The hospital patient’s injures were severe enough that he had to to undergo eye surgery, officials said. McAusland was sentenced to more than five years in prison last week. McAusland, 27, pleaded guilty last year to selling marijuana, heroin, and powder and crack cocaine that he stole from a crime scene. McAusland sold the drugs to a person working with law enforcement. In addition, five Paterson cops have been charged in an alleged scheme to steal cash during traffic stops and then falsify reports. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.