A judge on Friday sentenced six former Rikers Island correctional officers to state prison for their role in the beating of an inmate in 2012. Five of the men were found guilty in June 2016 of first degree gang assault, attempted assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree, falsifying business records, official misconduct, and an effort to cover up the attack. A sixth man was found guilty at a later bench trial. The inmate, Jahmal Lightfoot, was set upon by the guards after Eliseo Perez, the former assistant chief for security at the prison, decided to teach Lightfoot a lesson:
The beating took place in July 2012, after Perez locked eyes with Lightfoot during a search of the jail and Perez said: “This guy thinks he’s tough. When you get him to the intake area, take him to the intake search pen and knock his fucking teeth out.”
Lightfoot was taken to a search area that had no video surveillance. Two officers pinned his arms and legs to the floor while another three kicked him the face dozens of times, fracturing his eye sockets.
The officers wrote in a report that Lightfoot had attacked one of the guards with a sharpened piece of metal and they had used force to restrain him.
The former officers—Perez, Alfred Rivera, Tobias Parker, Jose Parra, David Rodriguez, and Gerald Vaughn—were given prison sentences ranging from four and a half to six and a half years. Two other officers who were not directly involved in the attack were sentenced in June to conditional discharges and 500 hours of community service. They were convicted of “official misconduct for their roles in efforts to try to cover up the attack.”
“At Rikers Island one day several years ago, officers entrusted with the duty to maintain order and discipline without resorting to force succumbed to their worst instincts and to the casual violence that is too often prevalent among the prison population these men were entrusted to watch,” Justice [Steven] Barrett said, describing a case he said involved a “dereliction of duty at Rikers Island.”
“Justice Barrett gave the longest sentence — six and a half years — to Mr. Perez, whom he called the “most culpable” of the defendants … “
The movement for greater transparency and accountability from police officers on the streets must also reach into the jail and prison systems. It only makes sense.