{"id":10171,"date":"2015-03-19T12:59:44","date_gmt":"2015-03-19T19:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=10171"},"modified":"2015-03-19T12:59:44","modified_gmt":"2015-03-19T19:59:44","slug":"four-former-georgia-prison-guards-sentenced-to-prison-for-beating-inmates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=10171","title":{"rendered":"Four Former Georgia Prison Guards Sentenced to Prison for Beating Inmates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Justice-Depart.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-8666\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Justice-Depart-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Justice-Depart\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Justice-Depart-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Justice-Depart-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Justice-Depart.jpg 320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>WASHINGTON \u2014 \u00a0<\/strong>Four former\u00a0members of the <strong>Correctional Emergency Response Team or CERT<\/strong> at<strong> Macon State Prison<\/strong> in Oglethorpe, Georgia were sentenced Wednesday for federal offenses related the beating of inmates, and the subsequent coverup.<\/p>\n<p>One inmate suffered traumatic brain injury, officials said.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cEight former corrections officials from Macon State Prison now have been sentenced for criminal conduct that ranged from beating inmates to obstructing our investigation,\u201d said <strong>Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division<\/strong>. \u201cThe Department of Justice will continue to vigorously prosecute corrections officers who betray the public trust, assault people in their custody, and otherwise use their power to violate federal law.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>U.S. District Judge Marc T. Treadwell sentenced the four &#8211;<strong> Darren Douglass-Griffin<\/strong>, <strong>Kerry Bolden,<\/strong> <strong>Emmett McKenzie<\/strong> and <strong>Kadarius Thomas.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The judge sentenced the four to the following prison terms:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Douglass-Griffin<\/strong> to serve 12 months in prison for conspiracy against rights and for writing a false report.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bolden<\/strong> was sentenced to serve nine months in prison for conspiracy against rights and conspiracy to obstruct justice.<\/li>\n<li><strong>McKenzie<\/strong> received a sentence of six months in prison for conspiracy against rights.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Thomas<\/strong> was sentenced to serve six months in prison for writing a false report regarding the beating of an inmate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/FBI-Logo.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-7857\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/FBI-Logo-150x150.png\" alt=\"FBI Logo\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>The case was investigated by the FBI.<\/p>\n<p>In June 2014, a federal jury convicted\u00a0former <strong>CERT Sergeant Christopher Hall<\/strong> and senior <strong>CERT officers Ronald Lach<\/strong> and <strong>Delton Rushin.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Evidence introduced at trial and in court documents filed in connection with the guilty pleas of <strong>Douglass-Griffin<\/strong>, <strong>Bolden,<\/strong> <strong>McKenzie<\/strong> and <strong>Thomas<\/strong> showed that CERT officers conspired to assault handcuffed inmates as punishment for past misconduct.<\/p>\n<p>CERT officers beat multiple inmates, two of whom suffered serious injuries.<\/p>\n<p>One inmate, <strong>Terrance Dean<\/strong>, suffered a traumatic brain injury during an assault by CERT officers.<\/p>\n<p>Evidence also showed that CERT officers conspired to cover up their unlawful practice, and that officers turned in false reports and provided misleading statements to investigators.<\/p>\n<p>On Dec. 4, 2014, <strong>U.S. District Judge Marc T. Treadwell<\/strong> sentenced the defendants who were convicted at trial to the following terms of incarceration: Lach, 90 months; Hall, 72 months; and Rushin, 60 months.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Former CERT member Willie Redden<\/strong> is the last defendant to be sentenced in connection with these cases. A sentencing date has not yet been set for Redden.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWhile our corrections officials have a difficult yet important job, we must insist that they follow the law and not use the authority that comes with a prison guard\u2019s uniform to assault the very people they are charged with supervising,\u201d said <strong>U.S. Attorney Michael J. Moore of the Middle District of Georgia. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Adding, \u201cIn this case, it wasn\u2019t just inmates who were victims, it was also the public who had entrusted these officials with maintaining order while respecting and following the law.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/eplayer.clipsyndicate.com\/embed\/iframe?aspect_ratio=3x2&amp;auto_start=0&amp;pf_id=12433&amp;rel=3&amp;show_title=0&amp;va_id=5486038&amp;volume=8&amp;windows=1\" width=\"425\" height=\"330\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yVH-Uq4WsBw\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON \u2014 \u00a0Four former\u00a0members of the Correctional Emergency Response Team or CERT at Macon State Prison in Oglethorpe, Georgia were sentenced Wednesday for federal offenses related the beating of inmates, and the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,16,3],"tags":[1252],"class_list":["post-10171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fbi","category-home-main-slider","category-u-s-department-of-justice","tag-georgia-prison-guards-convicted"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Four Former Georgia Prison Guards Sentenced to Prison for Beating Inmates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Four former Georgia prison guards were convicted of beating inmates and subsequently, trying to cover up the beatings\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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