{"id":21183,"date":"2016-03-09T20:07:18","date_gmt":"2016-03-10T04:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=21183"},"modified":"2016-03-09T20:23:20","modified_gmt":"2016-03-10T04:23:20","slug":"feds-sheriff-lt-colonel-charged-beatings-inmates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=21183","title":{"rendered":"Louisiana Sheriff Indicted for His Role in Beating of Inmates at the Jail Chapel Who Didn’t Pose a Threat (News Video)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0LOUISIANA<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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A federal grand jury today indicted Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal<\/strong> for his role in the alleged beating of five inmates that were taken to the jail chapel and assaulted with batons, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Sheriff
Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Also indicted was sheriff’s supervisor Lt. Colonel Gerald Savoy.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Ackal and Savoy were charged with\u00a0civil rights violations arising out of the beatings of five pre-trial detainees at the Iberia Parish Jail on April 29, 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ackal is charged with one count of conspiracy against rights and two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law, and Savoy is charged with one count of conspiracy against rights and one count of deprivation of rights under color of law.<\/span><\/p>\n

The indictment alleges\u00a0that Ackal and Savoy conspired with each other and with other officers to assault five inmates, identified by the initials C.O., S.S., A.T., A.D. and H.G., and that\u00a0 members of the conspiracy failed to intervene and stop the assaults.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eight former Iberia Parish Sheriff Office employees previously entered guilty pleas in related cases before U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi of \u00a0Louisiana.<\/span><\/p>\n

The eight officers are former Jail Warden Wesley Hayes, former jail Assistant Warden Jesse Hayes, former Lieutenant Bret Broussard of the Narcotics Unit, former narcotics agent Wade Bergeron, former narcotics agent Jason Comeaux, former narcotics agent David Hines, former narcotics agent Byron Benjamin Lassalle and former K-9 handler Robert Burns.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the indictment, this is what happened:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

During a narcotics shakedown at the jail, in response to a lewd comment, the former deputies along with the defendants took the inmates to the jail chapel. Ackal told Savoy to “take care” of the inmates where they were beaten with batons.<\/span><\/p>\n

The inmates were taken to the chapel because there were no surveillance cameras there, according to the indictment.<\/span><\/p>\n

After Lassalle learned S.S. was in jail for being a sex offender, “Lassalle took a baton, held it between his own legs as if it were a penis, and forced it into S.S.’s mouth, causing S.S. to choke. No officer stopped the unlawful assault on S.S.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The indictment said Ackal found out that H.G. had written letters complaining the conditions of the jail. H.G. was escorted to the chapel and beaten with a baton.<\/span><\/p>\n

“During the assaults, Savoy ordered the K-9 handler to make his dog bark” to intimidate A.D. and H.C., the indictment states.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ackal and Savoy each face up to 10 years in prison for each of the civil rights violations as well as a $250,000 fine for each count.<\/span><\/p>\n

To read the indictment click here: \u00a0Grand Jury<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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(2015 News Story After Suspicious Death of Black Man)<\/p>\n