Skip navigation
Prison Legal News
× You have 1 more free article available this month. Subscribe today.

Two More Guards Face Prison Time for Messiah Nantwi Killing

Loaded on June 1, 2026 by Jo Ellen Nott published in Prison Legal News June, 2026, page 41
Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Sentencing, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas. Location: New York.

by Jo Ellen Knott

The fate of the at least ten guards involved in a brutal beating death of a prisoner in 2025 is moving towards its inevitable end with two more guards facing prison time.

Former Midstate Correctional Facility prison guard Caleb Blair accepted a plea deal on May 4, 2026, just as jury selection was scheduled to begin for his trial. According to reporting from WSTM in Syracuse, Blair, 28, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter for his role in the fatal beating of 22-year-old Messiah Nantwi in March 2025. PLN previously reported the April 2025 indictment which accused Blair and nine other guards of participating in the assault and meeting afterward at a local diner to fabricate a cover story. [See: PLN, May 2025, p.43.] While he initially faced murder charges and a potential sentence of 25 years to life, Blair will now only spend eleven years in prison. His conviction follows that of co-defendant Jonah Levi for first-degree manslaughter on April 1, 2026. [See: PLN, May 2026, p.66.]

In addition to Blair’s guilty plea, co-assailant and former state guard Francis Chandler, 24, at the Midstate Correctional Facility was sentenced to four years in prison on May 13, 2026, according to a report by WPTZ in Burlington. PLN covered Chandler’s guilty plea in Oneida County Court to second-degree gang assault on October 16, 2025. Chandler, originally charged with manslaughter, avoided a heavier penalty by pleading to gang assault. Co-defendant and fellow former officer Thomas Eck avoided a June 1 trial by pleading guilty to filing a false instrument, securing a deal that caps his upcoming July sentencing at one year in jail. [See: PLN, Dec. 2025, p.14.] 

 

Sources: WPTZ, WSTM

As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.

Subscribe today

Already a subscriber? Login

More from this issue:

  1. CoreCivic’s Long Record of Abuse and Neglect in Tennessee, by Matthew Clarke
  2. From the Editor, by Paul Wright
  3. California Pays $15,000 to State Prisoner Who Claimed He Was Targeted by Guards, by Chuck Sharman
  4. Fourth Circuit Revives Detainee’s Suit Alleging Monell and 14th Amendment Deliberate Indifference Claims, by Douglas Ankney
  5. Dallas County Jail Deaths, Many Preventable, Dramatically Increase Under Sheriff Marian Brown, by Matthew Clarke
  6. Alabama Prison Warden Reportedly Arrested and Walked Off Job, by Chuck Sharman
  7. FTC Substantiates Allegations Against ViaPath Related to Data Breach and Orders Remedial Action, by Douglas Ankney
  8. Number of Prisoners Awaiting Transfer from Jail Surging in Indiana
  9. Warden, Four Other Louisiana Jailers Indicted for Brutalizing Compliant Detainees with Riot Shield, by Chuck Sharman
  10. Jury Awards Over $24.4 Million to Kentucky Prisoner Exonerated After 22 Years, Bringing Total Payout for Him and Co-Defendant to Almost $45 Million, by Chuck Sharman
  11. Over $2 Million Paid by Otero County and VitalCore Health Strategies for New Mexico Jail Suicide, by Chuck Sharman
  12. Study Shows That Suicide Intervention During and After Incarceration Reduces Suicide Attempts by 55%, by Douglas Ankney
  13. Ninth Circuit Lets Stand Ruling That Federal Prisoners’ Gradually Accumulated Savings Are Subject to Restitution Turnover, by Matthew Clarke
  14. Report Finds Stark Racial Disparities in Wisconsin Prisons
  15. $5 Million Paid by Colorado County for Jail Detainee’s “Gruesome” Death from Untreated Ulcer; Claims Proceeding Against Southern Health Partners, by Chuck Sharman
  16. Kansas DOC Replaces Centurion with Another Prison Healthcare Contractor
  17. Texas Executes 600th Prisoner Since Reinstating Death Penalty in 1976
  18. Sixth Circuit Upholds $10 Million Wrongful Conviction Verdict for Exonerated Michigan Prisoner, by Chuck Sharman
  19. Seventh Circuit Reinstates Illinois Prisoner’s Lawsuit Against Prison Dental Staff, by Matthew Clarke
  20. Ohio Supreme Court Rules that Sheriff Did Not Violate Open Records Act and Declines to Award Damages to Prisoner, by Douglas Ankney
  21. Spate of Deaths at Tulsa Jail Highlights Medical Neglect, by Michael Thompson
  22. $250,000 Paid by Maine to Former Prisoner Held in Solitary Confinement—Which the State DOC Says Doesn’t Exist, by Chuck Sharman
  23. Arkansas Supreme Court Bows to Governor’s Board of Correction Takeover, by Chuck Sharman
  24. Former Maine Prison Official Will Serve 5 Years in Prison for $2.4 Million Bribe
  25. $112,500 Paid to Former New Mexico Prisoner Denied Public Records of Excessive Force by Guards, by Chuck Sharman
  26. Ambulance Calls at Boston Jail Have Tripled Since 2010
  27. Settlement Reached in Mental Health Care Class-Action at San Diego County Jails, by Chuck Sharman
  28. Nebraska Lifts Suspension of Native American Religious Practices Hours Prior to Federal Court Hearing, by Matthew Clarke
  29. Florida Federal Court Excoriates BOP for Health Care Failures, Grants Prisoner Early Release to Seek Treatment for Possible Breast Cancer, by Matthew Clarke
  30. New York Prisoner, Paroled After 25 Years, Exonerated of Crime, by Chuck Sharman
  31. North Carolina Prison Closing Due to Short Staffing
  32. Eighth Circuit Dismisses Federal Prisoner’s Challenge to BOP Denying His Request for Expedited Transfer to Prerelease Custody, by Matthew Clarke
  33. Former Georgia Prison Warden Indicted for Role in Smuggling Scheme
  34. NaphCare Pulls Out of Washington Jails After Lawsuit Payouts, by Michael Thompson
  35. Federal Court Partially Enjoins Enforcement of Georgia’s S.B. 185 Prohibiting Gender-Affirming Health Care in DOC, by Matthew Clarke
  36. $75,000 for Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Excessive Force Claim Against Jail Guard, by Chuck Sharman
  37. Prison Profiteer The GEO Group Accused of Refusing Health Inspections at Detention Facility Despite Court Ruling
  38. New York City Reaches Settlements Totaling Nearly $5.2 Million with Estates of Two Fatal Methadone Overdose Victims Detained on Rikers Island, by Chuck Sharman
  39. Federal Jury Awards $2,500 to Male Wisconsin Prisoner Sexually Assaulted by Female Guard, by Matthew Clarke
  40. $1 Million Settlement Reached in Jail Suicide of Maryland Detainee Whose Emergency Hospitalization Order Was Ignored, by Chuck Sharman
  41. Two More Guards Face Prison Time for Messiah Nantwi Killing, by Jo Ellen Nott
  42. Washington State Supreme Court Ruling Supports Broad Immunity in Overdose Cases, by Michael Thompson
  43. Pepper Spraying Incident Prompts Policy Change at Washington Women’s Prison, by Jo Ellen Nott
  44. Nevada Ex-Warden Ordered to Counseling After Ear-Biting Incident
  45. They Thought They Were Leaving Prison Early. Then They Weren’t., by Phillip Luna
  46. New Orleans Sheriff Indicted on 30 Charges Related to Malfeasance and Fraud
  47. Ghislaine Maxwell Reportedly Receiving Preferential Treatment at Texas Prison Camp, by Jo Ellen Nott
  48. Prosecutors Had a Drugs-for-Votes Scheme “Locked Up.” Under Trump, They Were Told Not to Pursue Charges., by Raquel Rutledge
  49. Oklahoma Governor Pressured DOC to Grant Preferential Treatment to Friend, by Jo Ellen Nott
  50. In Wake of Murders of Prisoners by Guards, New York Passes Legislation to Enhance Safety, Accountability and Training, by Douglas Ankney
  51. Sixth Circuit Rules Prisoner Held After Parole Board Ordered Release on Parole Could Not State a Rights Violation Claim, by Douglas Ankney
  52. Wisconsin Governor Issues Executive Order to Restore Commutations, by Michael Thompson
  53. Auditor Demands Private Prison Company Pay $7.4 Million to Mississippi
  54. Our Money Is Disappearing Inside ViaPath’s Prison Tablets, by Christopher Santiago
  55. Ombuds Report Doesn’t Rule Out Racism or Retaliation at Red Onion State Prison, by Douglas Ankney
  56. Colorado DOC Allows Some Prisoners Convicted of Sex Crimes to be Released While Delaying Parole Consideration for Others, by Douglas Ankney
  57. Murder Convictions Tossed for Three Pennsylvania Prisoners After 28 Years, by Chuck Sharman
  58. Federal Judge Upholds Infamously Brutal Farm Labor at Angola Prison, by Mike Ludwig
  59. News in Brief

More from Jo Ellen Nott:

More from these topics: