Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs

wikipedia.com

Four Former Georgia Correctional Officers Sentenced for Offenses Related to Assaults of Inmates and Ensuing Cover-Up

The Justice Department announced that Darren Douglass-Griffin, Kerry Bolden, Emmett McKenzie and Kadarius Thomas—four former members of the Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT) at Macon State Prison (MSP) in Oglethorpe, Georgia—were sentenced today for federal offenses related to the beating of MSP inmates in 2010 and the cover-up that followed.

U.S. District Judge Marc T. Treadwell sentenced Douglass-Griffin to serve 12 months in prison for conspiracy against rights and for writing a false report. Bolden was sentenced to serve nine months in prison for conspiracy against rights and conspiracy to obstruct justice. McKenzie received a sentence of six months in prison for conspiracy against rights. Thomas was sentenced to serve six months in prison for writing a false report regarding the beating of an inmate.

In June 2014, a federal jury trial in United States v. Hinton, et al., resulted in the conviction of former CERT Sergeant Christopher Hall and senior CERT officers Ronald Lach and Delton Rushin. Evidence introduced at trial and in court documents filed in connection with the guilty pleas of Douglass-Griffin, Bolden, McKenzie and Thomas showed that CERT officers conspired to assault handcuffed inmates as punishment for past misconduct. CERT officers beat multiple inmates, two of whom suffered serious injuries. One inmate, Terrance Dean, suffered a traumatic brain injury during an assault by CERT officers. Evidence also showed that CERT officers conspired to cover up their unlawful practice, and that officers turned in false reports and provided misleading statements to investigators.

On Dec. 4, 2014, U.S. District Judge Marc T. Treadwell sentenced the defendants who were convicted at trial to the following terms of incarceration: Lach, 90 months; Hall, 72 months; and Rushin, 60 months.

Former CERT member Willie Redden is the last defendant to be sentenced in connection with these cases. A sentencing date has not yet been set for Redden.

Read More Four Former Georgia Correctional Officers Sentenced for Offenses Related to Assaults of Inmates and Ensuing Cover-Up | OPA | Department of Justice.