HILLSDALE COUNTY, MI — A lawsuit alleging cruel and unusual punishment filed against Hillsdale County and a former sheriff’s sergeant, later charged criminally for abuse, has ended.

Sabrina Cain accepted a $295,000 settlement agreement on Nov. 12, ending the lawsuit filed a year prior in U.S. District Court Western District of Michigan, according to the agreement obtained by MLive through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Cain sued the county and Ronald Leggitt, a former sheriff’s sergeant, after an investigation had shown Leggitt used excessive force on Cain while she was detained in the county jail.

Leggitt repeatedly pepper sprayed Cain in the face only inches away from her eyes as she was restrained, according to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, which was prosecuting the case criminally.

“Our client can never fully be compensated for being illegally maced,” said Ven Johnson, founder of the law firm representing Cain. “She was maced four times after being strapped to a chair that she was completely restrained to and yet maced again four more times while she was having a mental breakdown that was evident to everyone around.”

Jackson County Circuit Judge John McBain sentenced Leggitt in January 2025 to two years of probation and seven days in jail after Leggitt pleaded guilty to misconduct in office and aggravated assault.

As part of his plea, he agreed to relinquish his Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards certification, rendering him ineligible to be a police officer anywhere in Michigan, officials said.

Johnson thanked Associate Attorney Carlye Reynolds, who led the criminal case, for all her efforts pursuing justice for Cain.

Police arrested Cain on Dec. 16, 2021, and she allegedly became combative with jail deputies during the booking process, officials said.

Officers brought Cain to the jail, where Leggitt was supervising operations. Staff at the jail were informed she had resisted officers during her arrest, and she continued to exhibit resistant and disruptive behavior while entering the jail, officials said.

The attorney general’s office contended over the course of 80 minutes, Leggitt assaulted Cain six times with aerosol subject restraint, commonly known as mace or pepper spray, spraying the chemical irritant from a distance of inches.

During five of the six alleged assaults, the victim was secured in an emergency chair, restrained in wrist and ankle cuffs and at the chest, preventing her from moving, officials said.

On Dec. 22, 2021, six days after the assault, the Michigan State Police contacted the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office to report several troopers had witnessed Leggitt using excessive force on the arrested woman, Hillsdale County Sheriff Scott Hodshire said in a written statement.

The sheriff’s office launched an internal investigation and contacted a Michigan Sheriff’s Association team, asking it to conduct its own investigation as an independent third party, Hodshire said.

Leggitt was placed on administrative duties only during the course of the internal investigation. The association team then sent its findings to the Attorney General’s Office in February 2022, Hodshire said.

Leggitt continued to work at the sheriff’s office until the sheriff’s office was notified of pending charges and placed him on unpaid leave. He no longer works for the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office.

The attorney general’s office charged him in March 2024.

Johnson compared Cain’s case to the recent death of Renee Nicole Good who was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.

“So in many cases, like what we’re seeing in Minnesota yet again right now, in this area of law there’s no there are no criminal ramifications to the guilty officers and oftentimes no civil or responsibility either,” Johnson said.

The FBI is investigating the shooting in Minneapolis. Protests have erupted across the U.S. following the shooting.

Johnson praised Cain for her bravery in stepping forward about the abuse.

“What everyone’s got to realize is the more people who step forward and hold these people accountable, the less likely this behavior will ever be repeated,” he said. “Just like we see in Minneapolis. You want to give the law enforcement officers a free pass?”

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