Two former correctional officers at Elayn Hunt Correctional
Center in St. Gabriel, Louisiana, were sentenced today for their roles in
assaults on a handcuffed inmate in January 2017. Adrian Almodovar III and
Charles Philson III previously pleaded guilty to depriving the inmate of his
constitutional rights while acting under color of law.
“The Justice Department is committed to holding correctional
officers who deprive inmates of their right to be free from cruel and unusual
punishment accountable to the public,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric
Dreiband. “The Civil Rights Division will continue to obtain justice for
victims of these atrocious crimes.”
“The vast majority of law enforcement officers maintain a
high standard of conduct and perform their duties with honesty, integrity, and
bravery. Law enforcement officers at every level should be held to a high
standard and those who deprive citizens of their civil rights and undermine the
public trust should be held accountable. I want to thank the United States
Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, the FBI, and Louisiana Office of
the State Inspector General, and our staff for their efforts in this case.”
"Along with our partners, the FBI will aggressively
pursue allegations wherein correctional officers abuse their position of power
and authority to deny persons their constitutional right to be free from cruel
and unusual punishment,” stated Acting Special Agent in Charge Andrew Anderson.
“The FBI is appreciative of its partnership with the LA Department of
Corrections to root out correctional officers who choose to break the law and
physically abuse defenseless inmates.”
“Corrections Officers are given great authority and trust,
and when they abuse that trust, it undermines the entire system,” said
Louisiana Inspector General Stephen Street. “Physically abusing a handcuffed
inmate can never be tolerated. It was entirely appropriate that these
individuals be prosecuted and punished. The Louisiana OIG will continue working
these criminal cases with our law enforcement partners for as long as necessary
to protect the integrity of our system.
I want to thank U.S. Attorney Brandon Fremin and the Civil Rights
Division of the Department of Justice for all their efforts on this case.”
During his previous plea hearing, Almodovar admitted to
unlawfully striking inmate J.H. on multiple occasions while J.H. was
handcuffed. He also admitted to failing to intervene to stop his fellow
correctional officers from using unlawful force on J.H. Almodovar further admitted to unlawfully
striking a second inmate, L.B., in the head while L.B. was handcuffed.
Almodovar was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Philson previously pleaded guilty to witnessing other
correctional officers using unlawful force on J.H. and failing to intervene to
stop them. He was sentenced to 12 months probation.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Baton Rouge Resident
Agency Office and the Louisiana Office of the State Inspector General. Trial
Attorney Christopher J. Perras and Assistant United States Attorney Cal Leipold
also assisted in the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney
Zachary Dembo of the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division.
No comments:
Post a Comment