Six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who had already been sentenced to federal prison but pleaded guilty to a slew of state and federal charges for torturing two black men were sentenced Wednesday in state court. .
Six white former Mississippi law enforcement officers who attacked Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker in January 2023 have already been sentenced to federal prison terms ranging from 10 to 40 years. Ta. In March, U.S. District Judge Tom Lee sentenced five of the six men near the high end of federal guidelines, calling their conduct “terrible and despicable.”
Rankin County Circuit Court Judge Steve Ratcliffe on Wednesday sentenced the men to several years in state prison, shorter than the terms they already received in federal prison. The sentences for the state convictions will be served concurrently or concurrently with the federal sentences, and the men will serve their sentences in federal prison.
The incident drew outrage from top law enforcement officials across the country, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, who accused the officers of carrying out a “heinous attack on the people they are sworn to protect.” In the gruesome details of this episode, local residents saw echoes of Mississippi’s history of racist brutality by those in power.
The first defendant to be sentenced Wednesday was Brett McAlpin, the fourth-ranking officer in the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office. Mr. McAlpin was previously sentenced by a federal judge to approximately 27 years in federal prison. He was sentenced Wednesday in state court to 15 years in prison on one count and five years in prison on another.
Prior to the sentencing hearing, Malik Shabazz, an attorney representing Jenkins and Parker, said the state sentencing hearing would be a “test” for Ratliff and state prosecutors.
“The state’s criminal convictions are important because Mississippi has historically lagged behind or ignored racial crimes and police brutality against Black people, and the Department of Justice had to take the lead.” Shabazz said.
The defendants include former Rankin County Sheriff’s Deputy McAlpin, 53; Hunter Elward, 31 years old. Christian Dedmon, 29 years old. Jeffrey Middleton, 46 years old. Daniel Opdyke, 28, and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield, 32, were off-duty during the assault.
All six former officers pleaded guilty to state charges, including obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct prosecution. Dedmon and Elward, who kicked in the door, also admitted to breaking into the home.
The charges followed an Associated Press investigation in March that found some of the officers were involved in at least four violent incidents that left two Black men dead since 2019.
The former lawyers entered the home without a warrant and tortured Jenkins and Parker in an hours-long assault that included beatings, repeated use of a stun gun, and assault with a sex toy until one of the victims was shot in the mouth. I admitted that I did it.
According to federal prosecutors, the attack began on January 24, 2023, with a racist call for extrajudicial violence.
A white man called Rankin County Deputy Brett McAlpin and complained that two black men were staying with a white woman at a home in Braxton, Mississippi. McAlpin told Christian Dedmon: Mr. Dedmon sent a text message to a group of white lawmakers willing to use excessive force who called themselves the “Goon Squad.”
Once inside, they handcuffed Jenkins and his friend Parker and poured milk, alcohol and chocolate syrup on their faces while mocking them with racial slurs. They forced them to get naked and take a shower together to hide the mess. They taunted the victim with racial slurs and assaulted him with sexual objects.
The mock execution went awry, and Elward shot Jenkins in the mouth, splitting his tongue and breaking his jaw. The officers devised a cover-up and agreed to plant drugs on Jenkins and Parker. They were falsely accused for several months.
Prosecutors said McAlpin and Middleton, the oldest members of the group, threatened to kill other officers if they spoke out. His attorney, Jeff Reynolds, said Opdyke was the first to admit to their actions. Reynolds said Opdyke showed investigators a WhatsApp text thread in which officers discussed the plan.
The only defendant who did not receive a prison term at the top of the federal sentencing guidelines was Hartfield, who did not work for the sheriff’s department or be a member of the “goon squad” along with the other defendants.
In federal court, the lawmakers expressed remorse for their actions and apologized to Jenkins and Parker. Several attorneys said their clients were caught up in a culture of corruption encouraged by leaders of the sheriff’s office.
Rankin County Sheriff Brian Bailey did not provide details about the actions of the deputies when he announced last June that he had fired them. After pleading guilty in August, Mr. Bailey said the officers committed misconduct and promised to make changes. Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker demanded his resignation and filed a $400 million civil lawsuit against the department.
