Douglas Sacha/Getty Images
Six former law enforcement officers in Mississippi, who are all white, have pleaded guilty to state charges related to the torture and sexual assault of two Black men.
According to WJTV, the ex-officers pleaded guilty at the Rankin County Circuit Court on Monday (Aug. 14).
Five of the defendants — Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton, and Daniel Opdyk — are former employees of the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office. The sixth, Joshua Hartfield, is an ex-investigator for the Richland Police Department.
All of the former officers pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct justice and hinder prosecution. Other charges levied against select defendants include aggravated assault, home invasion, and first-degree obstruction of justice.
We should also point out that, according to CNN, a charging documents notes that some of the officers in question “called themselves ‘The Goon Squad’ because of their willingness to use excessive force and not to report it.”
As The Shade Room previously reported, the matter came to light earlier this year thanks to a $400M civil rights lawsuit.
The situation stems from a Jan. 24 incident that involved the then-officers illegally raiding the home of Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker. Over 90 minutes, the six then-officers brutally terrorized Jenkins and Parker, with one eventually shoving his gun inside Jenkins’ mouth before pulling the trigger in what was deemed a “mock execution.”
Once a federal lawsuit and probe were launched, the men were fired, and the U.S. Department of Justice ultimately released a statement on the matter earlier this month. Within the press release, the department acknowledged that all six ex-officers pleaded guilty to the federal charges against them.
With the new update regarding the state charges, the next step is to sort out sentencing.
For the plea deals over the state charges, AP News reports that prosecutors recommended individual sentences ranging from five to 30 years behind bars. The men will serve these sentences concurrently with their federal ones, which will arrive in November.
