A federal jury has found a former San Diego County sheriff's deputy guilty of civil rights charges in the 2020 shooting death of an unarmed man outside San Diego Central Jail — a case that had already resulted in a state manslaughter conviction, an $8.1 million county settlement, and one prior federal trial that ended in deadlock.

Aaron Russell, who was 23 years old and had been with the sheriff's department for 18 months at the time of the shooting, was convicted Tuesday on federal charges of deprivation of rights under color of law and using and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

The May 1, 2020 incident began when Nicholas Bils, 36, slipped out of his handcuffs and out of a California State Parks officer's vehicle while being transported to the jail. Bils fled on foot. Russell was the only officer among four at the scene to draw his firearm, shooting Bils multiple times in the back, arm, and thigh. Bils died from his wounds.

Russell's first federal trial concluded last year with a hung jury. His defense attorneys had argued in the retrial that the recent high-profile fatal law enforcement shootings in Minneapolis would unfairly prejudice jurors, but U.S. District Judge Todd Robinson denied the request for a delay.

Russell was previously convicted in state court of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced in 2022 to one year in county jail plus probation. The county also settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Bils' family for $8.1 million in mid-2022. Russell is scheduled to be sentenced on the federal charges in May. The San Diego County Sheriff's Department is the primary law enforcement agency serving unincorporated East County, including many Santee-adjacent communities.