COLUMBUS, OH – A former vice detective from Ohio, who admitted to federal crimes involving the abduction of sex workers under the pretense of arresting them, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. The sentence was handed down on Thursday.
Andrew Mitchell, 60, from Sunbury, will be credited for the approximately five years he has already spent in custody since his apprehension in April 2019, as reported by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. Mitchell entered a guilty plea in December to two charges of infringing on individuals’ civil rights while acting in an official capacity and one charge of obstructing justice.
Mitchell’s career spanned over 30 years with the Columbus Division of Police, with his last two years spent in the vice unit before his employment concluded in 2019, according to prosecutors.
In July 2017, while serving as a detective, Mitchell, dressed in civilian clothes and driving an unmarked car, handcuffed a sex worker in his vehicle, drove to a parking lot, and held the woman against her will after identifying himself as a police officer, prosecutors stated. Two months later, in a similar scenario, he interrogated another sex worker about her rates before identifying himself as a police officer and abducting her. She was released after an unspecified period.
In a separate case, Mitchell was cleared of murder and manslaughter charges in April 2023, which were related to the death of a woman he shot while working undercover. He was charged after shooting and killing Donna Castleberry, 23, while she was in his unmarked police vehicle in August 2018.
Mitchell claimed he acted in self-defense after being stabbed in the hand during an undercover prostitution investigation. The jury reached its verdict after approximately five hours of deliberation.