Georgia Prison CERT Members Sentenced to Prison for Beating Prisoners
A Georgia Federal District Court sentenced former members of a Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT) at Macon State Prison (MSP) to serve prison time for their actions in beating prisoners and covering up the assaults with false reports.
The conspiracy to assault prisoners at MSP came to light following the brutal beating of a prisoner Terrance Dean. As PLN previously reported, Dean was accosted by the CERT after he had a verbal and physical confrontation with several guards on December 16, 2010. After Dean was handcuffed behind his back, he was taken by the CERT team to MSP’s gymnasium, which was out of camera view. The beating he received was so severe that he was rendered unconscious and required treatment at several hospitals for traumatic brain injury.
In December 2014, a federal jury found CERT Sgt. Christopher Hall and guards Ronald Cach and Dalton Rushin guilty of conspiracy against rights and conspiracy to obstruct justice. They each received prison sentences: Cach to 90 months, Hall to 72 months and Rushin to 60 months.
The court entered sentences on March 18, 2015, for guards Darren Douglass- Griffin, Kerry Boden, Emmett Mckenzie, and Kadarius Thomas. The evidence at trial and their guilty plea proceeding showed CERT guards assaulted handcuffed prisoners as punishment for past misconduct. They beat multiple prisoners, causing serious injuries to two.
Douglass-Griffin received a 12 month sentence for conspiracy against rights and writing a false report; Mckenzie received a 6 month sentence for his conviction on the same charges. Bolden was sentenced to 9 months for conspiracy against rights and obstruction of justice, finally, Thomas received a 6 month sentence for writing a false report in the beating of a prisoner.
In all, eight guards have been convicted for the CERT beatings at MSP. Yet to be sentenced is guard Willie Redden. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit civil rights violations.
Source: nationalchange.org
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