{"id":20959,"date":"2016-03-02T18:53:20","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T02:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=20959"},"modified":"2016-11-22T10:41:23","modified_gmt":"2016-11-22T18:41:23","slug":"former-jail-administrator-admits-to-telling-inmates-to-beat-up-another-prisoner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=20959","title":{"rendered":"Former Jail Administrator Admits to Asking Inmates to Beat Up Another Prisoner"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 ARKANSAS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"DepartmentA former jail administrator plead guilty to asking inmates to beat up another prisoner, which resulted in the victims suffering from serious injuries, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the beating, Randel Branscum<\/strong>, 56, the former jail administrator and chief deputy with the Stone County Sheriff\u2019s Office in Mountain View, Arkansas, gave the two inmates who assaulted the prisoner tobacco, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBranscum abused his authority as a law enforcement officer by facilitating the assault of an individual in custody,\u201d said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Rights Division.<\/strong>\u00a0 \u201cThe Justice Department will continue to vigorously pursue and hold accountable members of law enforcement who violate their oath and the civil rights of others.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

One of those inmates, Matthew McConniel<\/strong>, plead guilty today to the same charge as Branscum, while the other inmate, James Beckham<\/strong>, also pleaded guilty to the same civil rights offense on Feb 26.<\/span><\/p>\n

During his guilty plea before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Brian S. Miller of Arkansas, Branscum admitted that while acting under his authority as jail administrator, he approached the inmates in their cell and asked them to \u201chandle\u201d the victim.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Branscum then forced the victim into the cell and allowed the victim to be beaten by Beckham and McConniel as instructed.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

During the assault, the victim was repeatedly struck and his head was punched into a windowsill causing a laceration and other injuries.\u00a0 Branscum admitted that after the beating, he gave Beckham and McConniel tobacco.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to a court documents, this is what happened according to a report on Arkansas Online<\/a>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n