A former Mississippi sheriff's deputy was sentenced Tuesday to about 20 years in prison for his part in torturing two Black men.
Hunter Elward received a 241-month sentence from U.S. District Judge Tom Lee in a Jackson federal court.
Another officer, Jeffrey Middleton, will be sentenced on Tuesday afternoon. Four other former law enforcement officers are also set to be sentenced this week by the same judge.
Each faces the potential of decades behind bars after admitting in August that they submitted two Black men to numerous acts of racially motivated torture in January 2023.
The terror began on Jan. 24, 2023, with a racist call for extrajudicial violence. A white person phoned Rankin County Deputy Brett McAlpin and complained that two Black men were staying with a white woman at a house in Braxton, Mississippi. McAlpin told Deputy Christian Dedmon, who texted a group of white deputies so willing to use excessive force they called themselves "The Goon Squad."
Once inside, they handcuffed Michael Corey Jenkins and his friend Eddie Terrell Parker and poured milk, alcohol and chocolate syrup over their faces. They forced them to strip naked and shower together to conceal the mess. They mocked the victims with racial slurs and shocked them with stun guns.
Elward admitted to shoving a gun into Jenkins' mouth and firing in a "mock execution" that went awry.
The officers then devised a coverup that included planting drugs and a gun. False charges stood against Jenkins and Parker for months, until one officer told the sheriff he had lied, leading to confessions from others, according to CBS affiliate WJTV.
Ahead of sentencing, Jenkins and Parker called for the "stiffest of sentences" at a news conference Monday.
"It's been very hard for me, for us," Jenkins, who suffered a lacerated tongue and a broken jaw and still struggles to speak and eat, said. "We are hoping for the best and preparing for the worst."
Malik Shabazz, an attorney representing both men, said the result of the sentencing hearings could have national implications.
"Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker continue to suffer emotionally and physically since this horrific and bloody attack by Rankin County deputies," Shabazz said. "A message must be sent to police in Mississippi and all over America, that level of criminal conduct will be met with the harshest of consequences."
Months before federal prosecutors announced charges in August 2023, an investigation by The Associated Press linked some of the deputies to at least four violent encounters with Black men since 2019 that left two dead and another with lasting injuries.
The officers charged include Elward, Middleton, Brett McAlpin, Christian Dedmon and Daniel Opdyke of the Rankin County Sheriff's Department and Joshua Hartfield, a Richland police officer. They pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy against rights, obstructions of justice, deprivation of rights under color of law, discharge of a firearm under a crime of violence, and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Most of their lawyers did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment Monday. Jason Kirschberg, representing Opdyke, said: "Daniel has accepted responsibility for his actions, and his failures to act. ... He has admitted he was wrong and feels deep remorse for the pain he caused the victims."
On the federal charges, Dedmon and Elward each face a maximum sentence of 120 years plus life in prison and $2.75 million in fines. Hartfield faces a possible sentence of 80 years and $1.5 million, McAlpin faces 90 years and $1.75 million, Middleton faces 80 years and $1.5 million, and Opdyke could be sentenced to 100 years with a $2 million fine.
The former officers agreed to prosecutor-recommended sentences ranging from five to 30 years in state court, but time served for separate convictions at the state level will run concurrently with the potentially longer federal sentences.
Segregation and Racism in Rankin County
In Rankin County, a majority-white area located just east of Jackson, there has been a disturbing incident involving racial discrimination. Despite Jackson being home to one of the highest percentages of Black residents in any major U.S. city, two Black men, Jenkins and Parker, were warned by officers to "stay out of Rankin County and go back to Jackson or 'their side' of the Pearl River." This statement referenced areas with higher concentrations of Black residents.
This incident has brought to light the deep-rooted racism and segregation that still exists in certain parts of Mississippi. Federal prosecutors have drawn parallels between these crimes and the state's dark history, including the 1964 killing of three civil rights workers after being handed over to the Ku Klux Klan by a deputy.
Despite the officers pleading guilty in August, Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey initially remained silent on the matter. He later claimed that the officers had acted independently and vowed to make changes within the department. Jenkins and Parker, the victims of this discrimination, are demanding Bailey's resignation and have filed a $400 million civil lawsuit against the department.
