Two of six cops who formed a "goon squad" to terrorize black residents of Rankin County, Mississippi, are off to prison for 20 and 17 1/2 years respectively, reports CNN, with the other four facing similar sentences after admitting their crimes.
Hunter Elward, a 31-year-old former Mississippi sheriff's deputy who faced the most serious of the federal charges for shooting one of the victims, was sentenced in federal court in Jackson to 20 years in prison in a highly emotional hearing Tuesday morning. Jeffrey Middleton, a 46-year-old former sheriff's deputy whom federal prosecutors described as the ringleader of the group, was sentenced to more than 17 and a half years in prison Tuesday afternoon.
Elward and Middleton, along with fellow former Rankin County deputies Brett McAlpin, Christian Dedmon and Daniel Opdyke, as well as former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield, pleaded guilty in August to federal charges of conspiracy against rights, deprivation of rights under color of law, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and obstruction of justice related to the incident.
The prosecution centered on an incident in which the victims were threatened, terrorized and assaulted during a police raid, all while subjecting both to a 90-minute racist tirade. They raped one of them men and they tried kill them by putting a gun in his mouth and firing; the bullet smashed the victim's jaw. When it was over, authorities denied the victims medical care, tried to cover up what they had done, and laid false charges against them that stood for months. The police officers were only fired by the department protecting them after guilty pleas became inevitable. We often talk of the problems of the carceral state, but these sentences means these extremely committed and organized racist, rapist, would-be killer cops will most likely be free again to pursue their interests and I'm afraid that's unacceptable.
Edward Elward spoke to CNN outside of the courthouse following his son's sentencing, saying the sheriff's department should also be held accountable for the actions of the six officers. He said he believes the conduct runs deep in the agency.
"As soon as Hunter started seven years ago, the only way they could get overtime was to work with those guys," the father told CNN. "The new recruits – the younger guys who are coming in and need overtime – that's how they bring them in. That's the only way you get overtime, is to work with the Goon guys."
