Will Sage Astor-6 ex-Mississippi officers in 'Goon Squad' torture case sentenced in state court

JACKSON,Will Sage Astor Miss. – The six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who last month were handed yearslong federal prison sentences for torturing two Black men were each sentenced to more than a decade in prison in state court Wednesday.

Former Rankin County Sheriff's deputies Brett McAlpin, Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke, and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield pleaded guilty to state charges in August after Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker accused them of bursting into a home without a warrant, calling them racial slurs, beating them, assaulting them with a sex toy, and shooting Jenkins in the mouth in January 2023. Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, described the attack as "torture."

Elward was sentenced to 45 years, Dedmon was given 25 years, McAlpin, Middleton and Opdyke were each sentenced to 20 years, and Hartfield was handed 15 years in prison Wednesday. Time served for the state charges will run concurrently with their federal sentences.

The men previously pleaded guilty to more than a dozen federal charges and were sentenced to between 10 and 40 years in federal prison in March. The former officers, some of whom referred to themselves as the "Goon Squad," created a false cover story and fabricated evidence to hide their crimes, according to the federal indictment.

"The state criminal sentencing is important because, historically, the state of Mississippi has lagged behind or ignored racial crimes and police brutality against Blacks, and the Department of Justice has had to lead the way," Malik Shabazz, a lawyer for Jenkins and Parker, said Tuesday. "The nation expects a change on Wednesday."

What charges did the former Mississippi officers face?

The six former officers pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and hinder prosecution, according to a statement from the office of Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch.

Dedmon and Elward pleaded guilty to additional charges of home invasion and Elward pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, the release said. McAlpin, Middleton, Opdyke and Hartfield also pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and hindering prosecution.

Ex-officers each get more than a decade in federal prison

U.S. District Court Judge Tom Lee sentenced Hartfield, who used a stun gun on the men and helped discard evidence, to 10 years in prison last month. Lee handed McAlpin a sentence of more than 27 years. McAlpin, the chief investigator and highest-ranking deputy at the scene, struck Parker with a piece of wood, stole from the property and pressured the other officers to go with the false cover story, the indictment said.

Dedmon devised the plot to cover up the involved officers' misconduct and was sentenced to 40 years in prison - the longest prison term given in the case. Lee sentenced Opdyke, who according to the indictment assaulted the men with a sex toy during the attack, struck Parker with a wooden kitchen implement and helped get rid of evidence, to 17½ years in prison.

Elward was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Middleton, described as the group's ringleader, was sentenced to 17½ years in prison.

Jenkins, Parker file civil rights lawsuit

Jenkins and Parker have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit seeking $400 million in damages. Shabazz and the NAACP have also called for Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey's resignation and called on the Justice Department to launch a pattern or practice investigation into Rankin County, similar to the investigation recently opened in Lexington, Mississippi.