WASHINGTON D.C.
Former supervisory corrections officer Kenan Lister, 43, pleaded guilty this week to brutally beating an inmate inside a holding cell, according to federal officials.
Lister plead guilty to two civil rights offenses: one count of deprivation of rights under color of law for using unlawful force on an inmate and one count of being deliberately indifferent to the inmate’s medical needs.
Sentencing is scheduled for August 17. Lister faces up to 10 years in prison.
The facts admitted in the plea agreement establish that, on Aug. 30, 2019, Lister assaulted an inmate in a holding cell at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Facility in Hartsville, Tennessee.
At the time, Lister was on duty as the facility’s security threat group coordinator. While the inmate was sitting calmly in a holding cell, Lister punched the inmate in the head, knocking him to the ground.
Lister then kicked, punched, and struck the inmate multiple times in his head, chest, and torso after he was on the ground and not resisting.
The assault fractured the inmate’s ribs and punctured his lung. After the assault, Lister knew that the inmate had serious medical needs.
Despite this knowledge, Lister failed to provide medical care to the inmate or obtain medical care from others. Instead, Lister left the inmate locked in a holding cell and filed a report that omitted any mention of his assault.
“The defendant abused his power as a supervisory corrections officer by brutally assaulting a person in his custody,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Officers who willfully use excessive force in our jails and prisons not only violate the Constitution, they erode the public trust in law enforcement. The Justice Department is committed to prosecuting these abuses of power and upholding the Constitutional rights that protect us all.”
“When a correctional officer violates the civil rights of an inmate whose safety he is charged with, it undermines the respect and reputation of all law enforcement officers,” said Special Agent in Charge Douglas Korneski of the FBI Memphis Field Office.