Former Tenn. Lt. Pleads Guilty to Taser Charge

JACKSON, Tenn. (CN) - A former Tennessee sheriff's lieutenant admitted that she used a stun gun on a detainee who was strapped to a chair.

Jeanette Barnes, a former lieutenant with the Carroll County, Tenn. Sherriff's Office, pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law.

Barnes, 48, admitted at a hearing that, in March of this year, she used her Taser to "drive-stun" a pre-trail detainee for 12 seconds while he was in a restraint chair, causing burns to his skin, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

She faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 18, 2016.

"No one is above the law, especially those who have taken an oath to uphold the law," Western Tennessee U.S. Attorney Edward Stanton III said in a statement.

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