A U.S. Attorney’s Office review led to a post-trial plea agreement announced Friday for a Santa Clarita man convicted by a federal jury earlier this year of deprivation of rights under color of law, according to court records available online.
The plea agreement filed Friday gives the maximum sentencing range for Deputy Trevor James Kirk as 12 to 18 months in prison, while the USAO stated it thinks one year of probation is fair.
Kirk was working at the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station in 2023 when he and a female suspect became involved in a physical confrontation broadcast on social media and then on the evening news.
Federal prosecutors said he was guilty of “using excessive force when he assaulted and pepper-sprayed” the woman, identified as J.H. in court records, according to a February release announcing the conviction.
However, there have been at least two significant developments that appear to have impacted Kirk’s case since that verdict.
Bilal A. Essayli, whose name is on the new agreement, was sworn in April 2 as the “chief federal prosecutor for the nation’s most populous federal trial district,” according to a news release from his office. A review of the case was called for about two weeks later.
Kirk previously was facing a maximum of 10 years for a felony conviction. The post-trial agreement is now pending the approval of a federal judge at a sentencing hearing scheduled for May 19.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the agreement or the case Monday.
The plea agreement did not make any reference to Kirk’s Peace Officer Standards and Training certification being affected, a requirement for law enforcement officers.
A spokeswoman for the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department confirmed Monday that Kirk still works there. Kirk “is currently relieved of duty (but still an employee of the department),” according to a statement Monday from Nicole Nishida, communications manager of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.
The filing required Kirk to agree to the facts as laid out by the USAO — that he “used unnecessary force to detain J.H. while acting under color of law,” and that he “acted willfully when using unnecessary force.”
Robert J. Keenan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office was assigned the case May 1, the day the agreement was filed, according to federal court records available online.
The following day, federal prosecutors Eli Alan Alcaraz, Brian R. Faerstein, Cassie D. Palmer
and Michael J. Morse withdrew their involvement from the case.
On Monday, Morse referred comment to the USAO’s media office. Alcaraz, Faerstein and Palmer were not immediately available at numbers listed for them.
The USAO for the Central District of California serves seven counties, including L.A., Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura, covering nearly 20 million people.
The Los Angeles Sheriffs’ Professional Association, a union for L.A. County sheriff’s deputies that has supported Kirk since his initial charge, issued a statement Monday:
“We are encouraged by the recent development in Deputy Trevor Kirk’s case and will continue to monitor the upcoming sentencing closely,” said Nick Wilson, a spokesman for the office. “While this case should never have been prosecuted in the first place, we are deeply grateful the Department of Justice took a second, impartial look at the facts and merits.”
