MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A former Tennessee Department of Corrections officer has been sentenced to four years in prison for using excessive force on an inmate and trying to cover it up, the Justice Department said. Javian Griffin, 38, received the sentence Monday, the agency said in a statement. The former tactical officer at Northwest Correctional Complex pleaded guilty in October to punching the inmate in the head without justification and breaking his jaw. The inmate did not resist or pose a threat and Griffin wrote a false report about it, court documents said. “No correctional officer is above the law,” U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz said. “This office’s National Security and Civil Rights Unit will continue to prioritize the prosecution of public employees who violate the civil rights of others.” A co-defendant was sentenced in February to 15 months in prison for assisting with the cover-up by writing a false report, the agency said. |
'And so it begins': Inside Parliament during the uneasy transition of governmentUkraine war: Five dead and a million without power after wave of Russian strikesScientists find 'devastating' coral bleaching in Great Barrier Reef's far northBaltimore bridge collapse: two fathers named among victimsMovement of pilot's seat a focus of probe into LATAM Boeing flight, report says3D printed eggs used in fairy tern rescue programmeOld commuter carriages blighting Taumarunui scrapped after years of decaySeagulls 'charismatic' not 'criminal', scientists sayWar a real threat and Europe not ready, warns Poland's PMAustralian foreign aid worker among five killed in Israel airstrike on Gaza