ALABAMA
Former Alabama Department of Corrections Sergeant Ulysses Oliver Jr., 47, was sentenced to 30 months in federal court Friday for assaulting two inmates at ADOC’s Elmore Correctional Facility, officials stated.
“The ADOC has zero tolerance for violence within its facilities, including excessive use-of-force by staff,” said Chief Law Enforcement Officer Arnaldo Mercado of the Alabama Department of Corrections Law Enforcement Services Division. “Excessive use-of-force is not acceptable under any circumstances, and preventing these incidents is a high priority for the department.
According to court documents, on Feb. 16, 2019, Oliver went to an observation room holding the two inmate victims, who were handcuffed and sitting quietly.
Oliver pulled the first victim from the observation room into an adjacent hallway, where he struck the victim multiple times with his fists and feet, and then used his collapsible baton to strike the victim about 19 times.
After assaulting the first victim, Oliver returned to the observation room and pulled the second victim into the hallway. Oliver kicked the second victim and used his baton to strike the victim approximately 10 times.
During the assaults, the victims were handcuffed behind their backs, did not resist and posed no threat.
Afterward, Oliver returned to the observation room where the victims were being held and shoved the tip of his baton into the face of one of the victims, lacerating the victim’s face.
Oliver assaulted the victims as punishment because he believed that the victims had brought contraband into the facility, according to officials.
Oliver assaulted the victims in the presence of, or within earshot of, other ADOC correctional officers, who did not intervene to prevent the assaults.
Two other former corrections officers have pleaded guilty in connection with this incident, and a third was convicted at trial.
Former ADOC correctional officers Bryanna Mosley and Leon Williams pleaded guilty in May and July 2019, respectively, to failing to intervene to stop the assaults.
Another officer, former ADOC correctional lieutenant Willie Burks, who was the shift commander during the Feb. 16, 2019 incident, was convicted by a federal jury on July 21, 2021, of failing to intervene to stop Oliver from assaulting the second inmate. Burks was sentenced to nine years in prison in February, according to officials.
“Corrections officers are expected to safeguard the civil rights of prisoners,” said Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown for the FBI’s Mobile Field Office. “These officers ignored their duties and must be held to account for their actions. The FBI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate violations of people’s civil rights.”