A former Washington D.C. Corrections Officer, Marcus Bias, 28, was sentenced Friday to 42 months in prison for injuring a handcuffed inmate, officials stated.
Bias pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law for assaulting a handcuffed inmate.
Bias previously pleaded guilty in March.
“This defendant had a duty to treat people in his custody humanely,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The defendant is being held accountable for violently ramming an inmate’s head into a metal doorframe while the victim was handcuffed, surrounded by six officers, and posed no threat.”
According to court documents, on June 12, 2019, Bias intentionally and without provocation, pushed a detainee’s head into a metal doorframe while escorting him within the Department of Corrections, causing significant injuries.
At the time, the detainee, J.W., was handcuffed behind his back, suffering from the effects of O.C. spray, surrounded by five other officers, and not resisting.
J.W.’s injuries required emergency medical attention at a hospital.
The FBI Washington Field Office investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Anna Gotfryd of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Truscott for the District of Columbia prosecuted the case.