BEATING OF INMATE AND COVER-UP LAND FORMER CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS IN PRISON

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Three Former Georgia Correctional Officers Sentenced for Offenses Related to beating of Inmate and Ensuing Cover-Up

The Justice Department announced that Christopher Hall, a former Sergeant for the Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT) at Macon State Prison (MSP) in Oglethorpe, Georgia, and two former CERT officers, Ronald Lach and Delton Rushin, were sentenced on Thursday, December 4, 2014, for offenses related to the beating of an MSP inmate in 2010 and the cover-up that followed.  All three officers were convicted by a federal jury on June 20, 2014.  

Hall was sentenced to 72 months in prison for conspiracy to obstruct justice and two obstruction-related offenses.  Lach was sentenced to 90 months in prison for his involvement in the beating of the inmate, for conspiring to cover up the beating and for writing a false report.  Rushin was sentenced to 60 months in prison for conspiring to obstruct justice and obstruction-related offenses.  All three have two years of supervised release.

Evidence at trial, and a series of guilty pleas that preceded trial, showed that Lach was one of several MSP officers who participated in a retaliatory beating against an inmate in order to punish the inmate for his prior misconduct.  Hall, Lach and Rushin then conspired with other officers to cover up the beating by providing false and misleading statements to investigators and writing false reports.

To date, eight former MSP officers have been convicted in connection with the beatings of inmates at Macon State in 2010 and the cover-up that followed.

“Eight former corrections officials from Macon State Prison now stand convicted for their involvement in beating inmates or in the coordinated cover-ups that followed each assault,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta for the Civil Rights Division.  “These officers betrayed the public trust by using their official positions to commit violent civil rights abuses and then to try to hide what they had done.  The Department of Justice will continue to vigorously prosecute corrections officers who use their power to violate federal law.”

"When individuals are sentenced to prison, we expect that they will serve their time under the supervision of dedicated correctional officers and staff,” said U.S. Attorney Michael J. Moore for the Middle District of Georgia.  “What we don't expect, and will not tolerate, is for the people in charge of supervising and protecting the prisoners to beat the inmates and then try to cover it up when word of those crimes makes its way outside the prison walls.  The inmates in prisons across the state are serving a sentence of incarceration, and that doesn't include being subject to beatings and the abuse of power by corrections officers.  And while being a prison guard is both an important and challenging task, it is a job that requires adherence to the law.  We are lucky in Georgia to have many outstanding corrections officers who do their jobs every day with unmatched professionalism.  The defendants in this case broke the law and the trust they were given."

These cases were investigated by the Macon Resident Agency of the FBI, with the support of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.  The cases were prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Forrest Christian and Trial Attorney Tona Boyd for the Civil Rights Division, with the assistance of the United States Attorney’s Office in Macon.

TWO FORMER OFFICERS, LIEUTENANT AT ROXBURY PLEAD GUILTY IN INMATE ASSAULT CASE

FROM:  JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Two More Former Officers and Another Former Lieutenant at Roxbury Correctional Institution Plead Guilty for Conduct Related to the Assault of an Inmate

Edwin Stigile, formerly a Lieutenant at Roxbury Correctional Institution (RCI) in Hagerstown, Md., and two former RCI Correctional Officers, Tyson Hinckle and Reginald Martin, each pleaded guilty to an offense arising out of the assault of an inmate on Mar. 9, 2008.  Hinckle pleaded guilty to conspiring to assault an inmate, identified by the initials K.D.  Martin pleaded guilty to failing to intervene to stop the assault of K.D.  Stigile admitted that he was guilty of destroying evidence related to that assault.  Hinckle, Martin and Stigile are the ninth, 10th and 11th former RCI officers to enter a plea in connection with the federal investigation into a series of assaults that K.D. suffered at RCI on Mar. 8-9, 2008.

According to court documents filed in connection with his guilty plea, Hinckle admitted that, during the 7 a.m.-3 p.m. shift on Mar. 9, 2008, that he, Dustin Norris and three other RCI officers assaulted K.D. in order to punish him for striking an officer during a prior shift.  Hinckle also admitted that this assault in 2008 was consistent with prior incidents at RCI, where officers from three consecutive shifts would beat an inmate who had previously assaulted an officer.  Finally, Hinckle admitted that he and other officers tried to cover up their involvement in, or knowledge of, the assault of K.D.

Martin admitted that, during the 7 a.m.-3 p.m. shift on Mar. 9, 2008, he watched RCI officers assault K.D.  Instead of stopping the assault, however, Martin walked out of K.D.’s cell and waited.  After some time, Martin heard a supervisor say, “He’s had enough.”  The officers then filed out of K.D.’s cell.  Later, when investigators began to ask to about K.D.’s injuries, Martin met with officers who had been involved in the beating and agreed to falsely deny any knowledge of an assault of K.D.

Stigile, a former lieutenant, admitted that he used a magnetic device to alter and destroy surveillance videotapes related to RCI officers’ assaults of inmates, including the beating of K.D.  Stigile also admitted that, when questioned about K.D. in 2012, he provided false and misleading statements to federal investigators and to a federal grand jury.

“Mr. Hinckle and Mr. Martin have admitted their involvement in an unlawful assault of an inmate, and Mr. Stigile has acknowledged that, as a supervisor, he destroyed evidence related to that assault,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Civil Rights Division.  “The Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute officers who use their official position to commit and to cover up violations of federal criminal law.”

Stigile faces a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.  Hinckle and Martin each could receive a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years of incarceration.  All will be sentenced before U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar, and their sentencing dates are as follows: Stigile will be sentenced Jun. 17, 2014, Hinckle will be sentenced Apr. 7, 2014 and Martin will be sentenced May 15, 2014.

In related cases before Judge Bredar, former RCI Correctional Officers Ryan Lohr, Dustin Norris, Philip Mayo, Jeremy McCusker, Walter Steele, Lanny Harris, Keith Morris and former RCI Lieutenant Robert Harvey each has entered a guilty plea.  Four current or former RCI officers still face federal charges in connection with the alleged assault of K.D.  Two former RCI officers previously entered guilty pleas in state court.  

The investigation by the Frederick Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is ongoing.  The case is being prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Forrest Christian and Trial Attorney Sanjay Patel of the Civil Rights Division, with the assistance of Michael Cunningham of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.

FORMER CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS PLEAD GUILTY FOR ROLES IN INMATE ASSAULT

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Two Former Roxbury Correctional Officers Plead Guilty in Connection with Assault of an Inmate

Walter Scott Steele, a former correctional officer at Roxbury Correctional Institution (RCI), and Lanny Harris, a former correction sergeant at RCI in Hagerstown, Md., pleaded guilty today in relation to assaults against an inmate on March 9, 2008. Harris pleaded guilty to conspiring with other RCI officers to assault an inmate at the state prison on March 9, 2008. Steele pleaded guilty to conspiring with RCI officers to obstruct the investigation into an assault against an inmate on March 9, 2008, and to making a false statement to an FBI agent investigating the assault. With these pleas, five former RCI correctional officers have pleaded guilty and 10 others face charges.

According to court documents filed in connection with his guilty plea, Steele admitted that, during the midnight shift on March 8-9, 2008, he heard RCI officers discuss assaulting the inmate, identified in court documents only as "K.D.," in retaliation for K.D.’s prior assault of another officer. Steele warned the group that they would get caught if they assaulted the inmate.

Additionally, according to court documents filed in connection with his guilty plea, Harris and other officers met at RCI during the midnight shift and agreed to assault K.D. in retaliation for a prior incident involving the inmate and another officer. Harris admitted that he and three other correctional officers then entered K.D.’s cell in order to assault inmate K.D., while a fourth officer watched. Officers then assaulted K.D. while Steele watched.

Steele admitted that he later learned that officers from the midnight shift were meeting at a McDonald’s restaurant to talk about the assault on inmate K.D. Steele acknowledged meeting Harris and other RCI officers who had been involved in the assault, and discussing what they were going to say to investigators. Steele agreed to tell investigators that he did not know about an assault on inmate K.D.

Steele admitted in court that he lied to federal investigators on Feb. 12, 2013, by falsely denying that he had discussed K.D. with other RCI officers from the midnight shift. Steele also acknowledged that he failed to tell federal investigators that he had seen other officers assault K.D.

"Mr. Harris admitted today that, as a supervisor, he conspired with other officers to assault an inmate in order to punish the inmate for hitting an officer. Mr. Steele, meanwhile, has admitted that, after he watched his fellow correctional officers use force to punish the inmate, he then agreed to help those officers cover up their misconduct," said Roy L. Austin Jr., Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "The Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute officers who use their official position to abuse inmates or to cover up crimes committed by other officers."

Steele faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Harris faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Sentencing for Steele is set for July 9, 2013, and sentencing for Harris is set for Aug. 2, 2013, both before U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar.

The investigation by the Frederick Resident Agency of the FBI is ongoing. The case is being prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Forrest Christian and Trial Attorney Sanjay Patel of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, with the assistance of Michael Cunningham of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.

TWO FORMER CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS CHARGED IN INMATE ASSAULT CASE

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Indictment Charges Two Former Maryland Correctional Officers in Relation to an Assault of an Inmate

A third indictment, this time charging two former officers at Roxbury Correctional Institution (RCI), was returned today, in relation to assaults of an inmate, identified as K.D., and subsequent obstruction of justice, announced Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. On Feb. 26, 2013, a grand jury returned two indictments charging a total of nine current or former RCI officers with two subsequent assaults of the same inmate, K.D.

In the indictment returned today, former RCI Lieutenant Robert Harvey and former Correctional Officer Keith Morris are charged with a civil rights offense for their alleged assault on K.D., an inmate, during the 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift on March 8, 2013. Harvey also faces an obstruction of justice charge for allegedly filing a false report related to the assault.

Harvey faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, and Morris faces a maximum term of 10 years in prison.

These indictments bring the total number of individuals charged in relation to this case to 14. Including today’s charges, seven current or former RCI officers have been charged with a civil rights offense for their alleged involvement in a series of assaults on K.D. Two former RCI officers, Dustin Norris and Philip Mayo, recently entered guilty pleas acknowledging that they conspired with other officers to assault K.D. Ten current or former RCI officers have been charged with conspiracy or obstruction offenses for their alleged efforts to cover up staff involvement in the assaults on K.D. Ryan Lohr, a former RCI officer, previously entered a guilty plea admitting that he conspired with other officers to obstruct the investigation into an assault on K.D.

These three cases, which are ongoing, are being investigated by the Frederick Resident Agency of the FBI, and are being prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Forrest Christian and Trial Attorney Sanjay Patel of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, with the assistance of P. Michael Cunningham of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.