Two additional former correctional officers are facing charges in the February assault of an inmate at the correctional complex in Tiptonville.
A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Officer Jonathan York and Corporal Tommy Morris with federal civil rights, conspiracy, and obstruction offenses.
The indictment alleges that York allegedly directed a fellow correctional officer to cover the surveillance camera in the cell and then he repeatedly punched the inmate and allegedly directed another officer to hit the inmate.
A third officer also punched the inmate, and as a result of the unjustified use of force by the officers, the inmate suffered bodily injury.
The indictment also alleges that Morris violated the inmate’s civil rights by failing to intervene to stop the officers.
The indictment charges Morris and York with conspiring to cover up the use of unlawful force on the inmate, and finally, the indictment charges Morris with obstructing justice by encouraging correctional officers to provide false and misleading information about the circumstances surrounding the inmate’s injuries.
The defendants face statutory maximum sentences of 10 years for the civil rights count; five years for the conspiracy charge; and 20 years for each obstruction count.
Previously, former correctional officers Cadie McAlister, Nathaniel Griffin, Tanner Penwell, and Carl Spurlin, Jr. entered guilty pleas in the assault.
