Former Richwood correctional officer pleads guilty to covering up physical assault of inmates

MONROE, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that former Richwood Correctional Center officer, David Parker, pleaded guilty on January 17, 2019 in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to cover up the physical assault of five inmates by himself and other correctional officers in violation of the Constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

Parker, 27, of Tallulah, Louisiana, pleaded guilty to conspiring to falsify documents with the intent to obstruct and influence a matter within federal jurisdiction. According to his guilty plea, Parker worked as an officer at the Richwood Correctional Center in Richwood, Louisiana, where on October 30, 2016, he and other officers inflicted cruel and unusual punishment upon five inmates by spraying a chemical agent in their face and eyes while the inmates were handcuffed, compliant, kneeling on the floor, and not posing a physical threat to anyone.  Parker admitted that he conspired with the other officers to hide their conduct by submitting a false story in their official reports concerning the incident.

The count of conviction carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a criminal fine of up to $250,000. Parker is scheduled to be sentenced on May 15, 2019.

The case was investigated by the Monroe Division of the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Mudrick of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Louisiana, and Trial Attorney Anita Channapati of the Civil Rights Division, Criminal Section, U.S. Department of Justice, are prosecuting the case.