Former Kentucky corrections officer pleads guilty to covering up assault of an inmate
A former corrections officer at Eastern Kentucky Correctional Center pleaded guilty Tuesday to covering up an assault that three officers carried out on an inmate, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Derek Mays, 32, admitted to to four counts of obstruction of justice, according to the DOJ. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for each charge and will be sentenced on March 13, 2023.
According to Mays’ plea agreement, Mays and three other corrections officers carried an inmate to an isolated shower cell where the other three officers assaulted the inmate. The inmate was punched, kicked and stomped on while lying face-down on the ground in handcuffs and leg shackles, per the plea agreement.
The inmate was not resisting officers. Mays knew the use of force was not necessary and that the “wanton inflictions of pain” violated the inmate’s right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, the plea agreement said.
Later that day, Mays filed a faulty occurrence report by omitting any recollection of the assault, according to court documents. There’s a section on the occurrence report where officers are asked to describe the occurrence in detail.
Mays wrote in the report that the victim, only identified in court records as “M.M.,” wasn’t obeying officers and was kicking at staff, though that was not true, according to court records.
Mays also wrote that other officers maintained control of the victim’s legs and upper body until he became compliant. The plea agreement did not identify the other guards by name.
Mays was interviewed by Kentucky State Police, an investigator from the Internal Investigations Branch of the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet and an EKCC supervisor over the course of the next month about the assault. Court documents say Mays misled the investigators by denying the assault occurred and saying the inmate attempted to harm him and the other officers.
On top of the prison sentence, Mays also faces a fine of no more than $250,000 per count.
This story was originally published July 13, 2022 at 3:42 PM.
