BATON ROUGE — Donald Steele, a former Baton Rouge Police officer convicted of malfeasance in office after a traffic stop in which a woman said Steele forcibly groped her, was sentenced to a year in prison on Thursday.

With credit for time served, Steele will serve about another six months.

Before getting sentenced, Judge Don Johnson offered a chance to reduce that time by apologizing.

Traditionally before sentencing, the defendant writes a statement pleading for leniency from the judge.
Most of the time it involves an apology, which apparently Steele's did not.

Johnson gave steele another opportunity to accept responsibility in court, something District Attorney Hillar Moore says he's never seen.

"To say 'hey, I read what you actually told the probation officer, that is I didn't do this. I'm not guilty. I shouldn't get anything but a fine,' he gave him another chance to wiggle off the hook and that's the way I felt," Moore said. 

Steele told the judge and the victim that he was sorry for not issuing the victim a ticket.

His attorneys told WBRZ there was no need for him to apologize. 

"Mr. Steele maintains his innocence, as he has since the finder of fact determined that his only wrongdoing was failing to write the complainant a ticket," said Franz Borghardt.

Borghardt emphasized the plans to appeal the decision and the damage any sort of apology could do to his case.

"Given the appellate posture of the case and the possibility for retrial, any sentencing statements can be used against Mr. Steele, so we are disappointed in the State’s argument that he didn’t accept responsibility. We plan to appeal, and fully anticipate that Mr. Steele will be back in court."

According to court records, prosecutors wanted Steele sentenced to five years, arguing that Steele's conduct "goes far beyond the failure to live up to the public's expectation for behavior of a police officer."

"Police officers are given extensive power and authority and must be held accountable in the strictest sense when they abuse that authority to hurt the same individuals that they are sworn to protect," District Attorney Hillar Moore wrote. "At the very least, this conviction must remain on Donald Steele's record so that he is not given the opportunity to work for any law enforcement agency again." 

Steele's conviction stemmed from a 2021 traffic stop of a 19-year-old Southern University student on suspicion of DWI. 

Following Steele's arrest, he was fired.

The case was rife with controversy before Thursday's sentencing. Judge Donald Johnson's handled the case Thursday after matters were initially handled by his niece, Judge Eboni Johnson Rose.

After a bench trial, Rose acquitted Steele of the kidnapping charge and said in April 2024 he was guilty of misdemeanor malfeasance, a crime that doesn't exist. The error contributed in part of the state Supreme Court suspending Rose from the bench for a number of months. She returned this year and now handles civil court matters.

Prosecutors tried unsuccessfully to have Johnson taken off the case because he is related to Rose.