GREENVILLE, Miss. (AP) - Two former guards at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman must serve short jail stints for covering up an inmate beating.
U.S. District Judge Debra Brown on Friday sentenced 24-year-old Deonte Pate of Charleston, and 44-year-old Romander Nelson of Drew.
Both pleaded guilty last year to charges in 2014’s beating of prisoner Kerrus Hunter by other guards. The beating broke a bone in Hunter’s eye socket, permanently damaging his vision.
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Pate, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to falsify records and making false statements, was sentenced to 12 weekends in jail and 5 years’ probation. Nelson, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for failing to protect Hunter, was sentenced to 14 weekends in jail, 5 years’ probation and a $500 fine.
Two other guards are scheduled to be sentenced June 15.
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