Officials stated that Marcus Bias, 27, a former District of Columbia Department of Corrections Officer, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of deprivation of rights under the color of law.
Bias admitted pushing a handcuffed inmate into a metal doorframe on June 12, 2019. The assault caused serious injury to the inmate.
Bias is now facing up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced on June 28.
“People held inside our jails and prisons should never be subject to the kind of violent and unjustified assault that was carried out by this corrections officer,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This defendant violently rammed an inmate’s head into a metal doorframe while he was handcuffed and posed no threat. When jail officials violate their oath and betray the trust placed in them by abusing people in their custody, the Justice Department will investigate and prosecute these offenses and will stand up for the civil rights of the victims of these crimes.”
According to court documents, the detainee, J.W., had his hands handcuffed behind his back, was suffering from the effects of O.C. spray, was surrounded by five other officers, and was not resisting.
J.W.’s injuries required outside emergency medical attention.
The FBI Washington Field Office investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Anna Gotfryd of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section, Rebekah J. Bailey, formerly a Trial Attorney with the Criminal Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Truscott for the District of Columbia are prosecuting the case.D