Officers at a Kentucky prison kicked and punched an inmate. Two plead guilty.
Two more officers of an Eastern Kentucky prison have pleaded guilty in connection with an assault on an inmate.
Randall T. Dennis, who worked at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex in West Liberty, pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge that he violated an inmate’s rights by assaulting him and by failing to stop other officers from hitting and kicking him.
That deprived the inmate of the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment under the U.S. Constitution, according to the charge against Dennis.
Nathan M. Cantrell, who also worked at the prison, pleaded guilty to charges that he filed a false report to cover up the assault on the inmate, and that he gave false information to prison authorities, Kentucky State Police and the FBI during the investigation of the assault.
The assault happened in July 2018 in a shower stall at the prison, according to court records.
The inmate was restrained in handcuffs and leg shackles, and lying face down on the floor, when several guards punched and kicked him in the face, head and body, according to guilty pleas in the case.
The inmate was not resisting the officers, but some prison employees who took part in or saw the attack lied to try to cover it up, according to court records.
For example, Cantrell wrote a report that made no mention of seeing other officers assault the inmate, according to the charges against him.
He also falsely told investigators that the inmate kicked at officers and that he didn’t see the officers use excessive force, the charges said.
Four other employees of the prison pleaded guilty in connection with the incident. They are Derek Mays, Randy Nickell, James Benish and Jeffery Havens.
They have not been sentenced.
Another employee, Eric Nantell, was indicted last week in federal court on a charge that he failed to intervene when he saw other officers assaulting the inmate.
This story was originally published July 12, 2023 at 10:28 AM.
