A former vice detective from Ohio has entered a guilty plea to federal charges of kidnapping sex workers. Andrew Mitchell, 59, residing in Sunbury, pleaded guilty to two counts of violating individuals’ civil rights while acting under the color of law and one count of obstructing justice, as reported by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.
With a career spanning over 30 years with the Columbus Division of Police, Mitchell served in the vice union during the last two years of his employment, concluding in 2019, according to prosecutors.
In an incident from July 2017, Mitchell, working as a detective, donned plain clothes and utilized an unmarked vehicle to apprehend a sex worker. Handcuffing her to his vehicle, he then transported her to a parking lot and unlawfully detained her, falsely identifying himself as a law enforcement officer, prosecutors alleged.
Two months later, still operating as a plainclothes detective, Mitchell reportedly interrogated another sex worker about rates before revealing his identity as an officer and subsequently kidnapping her.
Mitchell faced previous legal troubles earlier this year when he was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges related to the shooting death of Donna Castleberry, 23, who was in his unmarked police vehicle in August 2018.
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Claiming self-defense, Mitchell argued that Castleberry had stabbed him in the hand during an undercover prostitution investigation. The jury deliberated for approximately five hours before reaching a verdict in that trial.