APRIL 10, 2024:
BRANDON, Miss. (AP) — Already sentenced to many years in federal prison, six white former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges for torturing two Black men were sentenced Wednesday (April 10, 2024) in state court.
The state sentences did not add time to the federal prison terms the defendants had already received, but the victims’ supporters hailed the yearslong sentences, saying they took on unique importance in Mississippi, where local residents saw echoes of the state’s history of racist atrocities by people in authority.
The six former officers who attacked Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker in January 2023 were sentenced last month to federal prison terms ranging from about 10 to 40 years. U.S. District Judge Tom Lee called their actions “egregious and despicable” as he gave sentences near the top of the federal guidelines to five of the six men.
Rankin County Circuit Judge Steve Ratcliff on Wednesday gave the men yearslong state sentences that were shorter than the amount of time in federal prison they had already received, but longer than what state prosecutors had recommended. Time served for the state convictions will run concurrently, or at the same time, as the federal sentences, and the men will serve their time in federal penitentiaries.
After the hearing, Malik Shabazz, an attorney representing Jenkins and Parker, celebrated that the former law officers were held accountable in the same courthouse where they had testified against people.
“They all had to come and appear in a courtroom where they have created much mischief,” Shabazz said. “In this courtroom and in this courthouse, they have been given credibility to their statements. But today was dramatically different. Today, the judge in this circuit county court has given out justice.”
Shabazz had said the state criminal sentencing is important because “historically, the state of Mississippi has lagged behind or ignored racial crimes and police brutality against Blacks.” He applauded Ratcliff’s decision to reject state prosecutors’ recommendations for shorter sentences on the state charges.
Michelle Williams, a spokesperson for the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, said the sentences handed down Wednesday were consistent with the plea agreement reached with federal prosecutors.
In a written statement, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch said the former officers’ crimes did grave harm to the victims and violated the trust of citizens they were supposed to protect.
“These criminal acts make a difficult job even harder and far more dangerous,” Fitch said. “And it is left to us all to commit ourselves to repairing that damage.”
The defendants include five former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies — Brett McAlpin, 53; Hunter Elward, 31; Christian Dedmon, 29; Jeffrey Middleton, 46; and Daniel Opdyke, 28 — and a former police officer from the city of Richland, Joshua Hartfield, 32, who was off duty during the assault.
All six of the former officers pleaded guilty to state charges of conspiracy to hinder prosecution. They were sentenced on multiple counts ranging from five to 20 years. Elward admitted to aggravated assault, and was sentenced to 20 years alongside punishments for burglary and conspiracy.
The charges followed an Associated Press investigation in March 2023 that linked some of the officers to at least four violent encounters since 2019 that left two Black men dead.
The terror began on Jan. 24, 2023, with a racist call for extrajudicial violence, according to federal prosecutors.
A white person phoned McAlpin and complained that two Black men were staying with a white woman at a house in Braxton, Mississippi. McAlpin told Dedmon, who texted a group of white deputies so willing to use excessive force they called themselves “The Goon Squad.”
Once inside, they handcuffed Jenkins and his friend Parker and poured milk, alcohol and chocolate syrup over their faces while mocking them with racial slurs. They forced them to strip naked and shower together to conceal the mess. They mocked the victims with racial slurs and assaulted them with sex objects.
In a mock execution gone awry, Elward shot Jenkins in the mouth, lacerating his tongue and breaking his jaw. The officers devised a coverup and agreed to plant drugs on Jenkins and Parker. False charges stood against the men for months.
McAlpin and Middleton, the oldest in the group, threatened to kill other officers if they spoke up, prosecutors said.
The only defendant who didn’t receive a federal prison term at the top of the sentencing guidelines was Hartfield, who did not work in a sheriff’s department with the others and was not a member of the “Goon Squad.”
In federal court, the deputies expressed remorse for their behavior and apologized to Jenkins and Parker. Several of their attorneys said their clients became ensnared in a culture of corruption that was encouraged by leaders in the sheriff’s office.
Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey revealed no details about his deputies’ actions when he announced they had been fired last June. After they pleaded guilty in August, Bailey said the officers had gone rogue and promised changes. Jenkins and Parker have called for his resignation and filed a $400 million civil lawsuit against the department.
In statements read by their attorneys in court Wednesday, Jenkins and Parker said their ordeal had been ingrained in their bodies and minds.
“Your honor, they killed me. I just didn’t die,” Jenkins said.
MARCH 21, 2024:
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday (March 21, 2024) finished handing down prison terms of about 10 to 40 years to six white former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to breaking into a home without a warrant and torturing two Black men in an hourslong attack that included beatings, repeated uses of stun guns and assaults with a sex toy before one of the victims was shot in the mouth.
U.S. District Judge Tom Lee called the culprits’ actions “egregious and despicable” and gave sentences near the top of federal guidelines to five of the six men who attacked Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker.
The exception was for Joshua Hartfield, 32, a former police officer who did not work in a sheriff’s department with the others and was not a member of a “Goon Squad.” He was the last of the six former officers sentenced over three days this week, months after they all pleaded guilty.
Before giving Hartfield a 10-year sentence Thursday, Lee said Hartfield did not have a history of using excessive force and was roped into the brutal episode by one of the former deputies, Christian Dedmon, who received a 40-year sentence. Lee said, however, that Hartfield failed to intervene in the violence and participated in a cover-up.
Brett McAlpin, 53, who was the fourth highest-ranking officer in the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office, received a sentence of about 27 years on Thursday. McAlpin nodded to his family in the courtroom and offered an apology before the judge sentenced him.
“This was all wrong, very wrong. It’s not how people should treat each other and even more so, it’s not how law enforcement should treat people,” said McAlpin, who did not look at the victims as he spoke. “I’m really sorry for being a part of something that made law enforcement look so bad.”
Lee sentenced Christian Dedmon, 29, to 40 years and Daniel Opdyke, 28, to 17.5 years on Wednesday. He gave about 20 years to Hunter Elward, 31, and 17.5 years to Jeffrey Middleton, 46, on Tuesday. All but Hartfield served with the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office outside Mississippi’s capital city of Jackson.
Arguing for a lengthy sentence, federal prosecutor Christopher Perras said McAlpin was not technically a member of the Goon Squad but “molded the men into the goons they became.”
Parker told investigators that McAlpin functioned like a “mafia don” as he instructed the officers throughout the evening. Prosecutors said other deputies often tried to impress McAlpin, and Opdyke’s attorney said Wednesday that his client saw McAlpin as a father figure.
MARCH 20, 2024, UPDATES:
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A third former Mississippi sheriff’s deputy has been sentenced for his part in torturing two Black men. Daniel Opdyke was sentenced Wednesday (March 20, 2024) to 17.5 years in federal prison. Two other former deputies, Hunter Elward and Jeffrey Middleton, were sentenced Tuesday. The other fired officers will learn their punishment later Wednesday and Thursday. All six pleaded guilty to federal charges in August. They admitted to subjecting Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker to numerous acts of racist torture in January 2023 after a neighbor complained that the men were staying in a home with a white woman.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A fourth former Mississippi sheriff’s deputy has been sentenced for his part in torturing two Black men. Christian Dedmon was sentenced Wednesday (March 20, 2024) to 40 years in federal prison, hours after Daniel Opdyke was sentenced to 17.5 years. Two former deputies, Hunter Elward and Jeffrey Middleton, were sentenced Tuesday. And two more former officers will learn their fates on Thursday. All six white men pleaded guilty to federal charges in August. They admitted subjecting Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker to numerous acts of racist torture in January 2023 after a neighbor complained that the men were staying in a home with a white woman.
MARCH 20, 2024:
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Sentencing continues Wednesday (March 20, 2024) for white former law enforcement officers in Mississippi who pleaded guilty last year to breaking into a home without a warrant and torturing two Black men with a stun gun, a sex toy and other objects. Daniel Opdyke, 28, and Christian Dedmon, 29, are set to appear separately before U.S. District Judge Tom Lee. They face years lengthy prison terms. Lee gave a nearly 20-year prison sentence to 31-year-old Hunter Elward and a 17.5-year sentence to 46-year-old Jeffrey Middleton on Tuesday. The men worked as Rankin County sheriff’s deputies during the attack. U.S. District Judge Tom Lee called their actions “egregious and despicable.”
MARCH 19, 2024, UPDATE:
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A former Mississippi sheriff’s deputy was sentenced Tuesday (March 19, 2024) to about 20 years in prison for his part in torturing two Black men in a racist assault and for his role in a separate episode where a white man was sexually assaulted. Five other former law enforcement officers are set for sentencing this week. All six of the former officers pleaded guilty to several federal charges in August 2023. They admitted to torturing Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker after a neighbor complained that the men were staying in a home with a white woman. Elward admitted to shoving a gun into Jenkins’ mouth and firing in a “mock execution” that went awry.
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