The third and fourth self-proclaimed Mississippi “Goon Squad” former officers had been sentenced Wednesday after they admitted to torturing two Black males in a racist assault final January.
Former deputy Daniel Prepared Opdyke was sentenced to 17.5 years and Christian Lee Dedmon was sentenced to 40 years in jail.
Each males, together with 4 different officers—Hunter Elward, Jeffrey Middleton, Brett McAlpin, and Joshua Hartfield— pleaded responsible final yr to felony expenses, together with civil rights conspiracy, deprivation of rights underneath coloration of legislation, discharge of a firearm throughout against the law of violence, and obstruction of justice.
The fees originated from an incident involving Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker in January 2023. Through the encounter, the six officers entered their Rankin County house and not using a warrant after a neighbor complained that the boys had been staying in a house with a white girl. The officers used stun weapons, intercourse toys, and different objects to torture the boys for practically two hours.
Tuesday, U.S. District Choose Tom Lee sentenced Elward to just about 20 years in jail and Middleton to a 17.5-year sentence.
Choose Lee characterised the previous officers’ actions as “egregious and despicable,” justifying the utmost vary underneath sentencing tips.
The horrifying incident unfolded in January 2023 when the six officers busted into the Rankin County residence and not using a warrant. After handcuffing the boys, the officers hurled racial slurs and doused them with milk, alcohol, and chocolate syrup. They pressured the boys to strip bare and bathe collectively in an try to erase proof of their assault. This torture lasted practically two hours and included a “mock execution” the place a gun was fired into Jenkins’ mouth. As an alternative of offering support, the officers concocted a cover-up plan involving planting medicine and a gun.
In a press release learn by his lawyer, Parker knowledgeable the courtroom that he was “severely impacted” by the occasions, which “left a scar that can final eternally.”
Jenkins, who nonetheless has hassle consuming and talking, instructed the courtroom through assertion by means of his lawyer that Jan. 24, 2023, “was the worst day of my life.”
“I’m harm, I’m damaged, I’m ashamed and embarrassed by all the scenario,” he stated in his assertion. “The consequences will eternally linger in my life. I’m damaged inside, and I don’t suppose I’ll ever be the individual I used to be.”
Ex-deputy Brett McAlpin and former Richland policeman Joshua Hartfield are scheduled for sentencing on Thursday.
