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Written by: A. Smith
Published August 13, 2025 @ 9:02 AM ET
CAMDEN COUNTY, Ga. – A Camden County Sheriff’s Office sergeant has been indicted on federal charges accusing him of using excessive force and falsifying records, including in a confrontation that left an exonerated man dead.
Buck William Aldridge, 42, of St. Marys, faces a 13-count federal indictment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia announced Thursday. Prosecutors say Aldridge used excessive force on people in custody on four occasions and filed false reports to justify his actions.
The indictment includes the October 2023 shooting of Leonard Allen Cure, a 53-year-old Black man who spent more than 16 years in prison in Florida on a wrongful conviction before his release in 2020.
“Law enforcement officers are entrusted with the authority to uphold the law — not to break it. When that trust is violated, the FBI will act. No badge puts anyone above the Constitution,” FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown said.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Aldridge stopped Cure along Interstate 95 near the Georgia-Florida line and accused him of speeding and reckless driving. Body camera and dash camera footage released by the sheriff’s office shows Cure initially complying with commands but refusing to put his hands behind his back to be arrested.
“Why am I getting Tased?” Cure asked.
“Because you are under arrest for speeding and reckless driving,” Aldridge responded.
Video shows Aldridge firing a stun gun at Cure, who pulled out the prongs and attacked the deputy. Aldridge then shot and killed him.
Cure had been exonerated in 2020 after the Broward County, Fla., Conviction Review Unit found he had alibis that were previously disregarded and that there was no physical evidence linking him to the 2003 armed robbery for which he was convicted. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis approved more than $817,000 in compensation for Cure last year.
Weeks before his death, Cure spoke to students at Jonesboro High School in Clayton County, Ga., through an event arranged by the Georgia Innocence Project.
Aldridge could face up to 10 years in prison for each civil rights violation and 20 years for each false report if convicted.
The FBI’s Brunswick Field Office is investigating, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia is prosecuting the case.
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