A federal grand jury indicted Melvin Hilson, 49, currently a deputy warden at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, for repeatedly striking an inmate and knocking him to the ground, resulting in injury to the inmate, officials announced Wednesday
The indictment charges Hilson with a felony civil rights offense for assaulting the inmate in 2016, when Hilson was a member of the K-9 Unit at the prison, which is also known as Parchman.
The indictment also alleges that Hilson wrote a false report to conceal his unlawful assault and, later, lied to investigators from the Mississippi Department of Corrections when questioned about the assault.
This case was investigated by the Jackson Division of the FBI. Special Litigation Counsel Samantha Trepel and Trial Attorney Cameron Bell of the Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Mims of the Northern District of Mississippi are prosecuting the case.