The Department of Justice announced that six former employees who pleaded guilty to assaulting inmates at a prison in eastern Kentucky have been sentenced to prison.
Former Kentucky deputy convicted of civil rights violations and obstruction of justice
Three officers who participated in and tried to cover up a 2018 assault at an Eastern Kentucky Correctional Facility received varying sentences, the department announced in a statement Monday. Randall Dennis, 28, was sentenced to five years in prison. James Benish, 37, was sentenced to 27 months in prison, and Jeffrey Havens, 28, was sentenced to 15 months in prison, the agency said.
Six former correctional officers in Kentucky have been convicted of assaulting inmates. (Fox News)
The supervisor and two other officers who helped cover up the assault were each sentenced to one month in prison, according to the statement.
Dennis and Benish assaulted the inmate, who was handcuffed and shackled, lying face down in a prison shower, and Havens joined them, the Justice Department said. The three other men were standing outside the shower when the assault began, the department said, and they filed a false report and lied to investigators about what happened.
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“These decisions should send a clear message that correctional officers are not above the law in our country,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clark of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
