A former San Diego County sheriff's deputy who fatally shot an unarmed man outside the downtown San Diego jail more than four years ago was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that could send him to prison for life, it was announced Friday.
Aaron Russell was charged in the indictment with depriving Nicholas Bils of his right to be free from officers using excessive force and discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, according to the Department of Justice.
Shooting of Nicholas Blis
Bils, 36, was shot multiple times on May 1, 2020, as he was running away from officers who were taking him to the jail.
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Russell was also prosecuted by the San Diego County District Attorney's Office, which initially charged him with second-degree murder. Russell pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced in 2022 to one year in jail, plus probation in connection with the shooting.
Russell was 23 years old and had been with the sheriff's department for 18 months at the time of the shooting.
Bils was arrested for allegedly brandishing a golf club at park rangers in Old Town State Park and was being taken to the downtown detention facility, where he managed to partially slip out of handcuffs and escape from a California State Parks officer's car.
As he fled, he was shot four times in the back, arm and thigh.
Three other law enforcement officers were at the scene, but Russell was the only one to draw his firearm, according to prosecutors.
The shooting also led to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Bils' family, which settled in mid-2022, with San Diego County agreeing to pay the Bils family $8.1 million.
When Russell appeared in court Friday at 2 p.m., the judge set his bond at $50,000 with certain restrictions, including limiting his travel and surrendering his passport. He's also forbidden to possess firearms and was ordered not to have any contact with potential government witnesses. He faces a maximum possible penalty of life in prison if convicted of
the new federal charges.
