RANKIN COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – A federal judge has postponed sentencing for six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pled guilty to a long list of federal charges for torturing two Black men in January 2023.
According to court documents, U.S. District Judge Tom Lee rescheduled the hearings for the former officers on the following dates:
- Hunter Elward – March 19, 2024
- Jeffrey Middleton – March 19, 2024
- Christian Dedmon – March 20, 2024
- Daniel Opdyke – March 20, 2024
- Joshua Hartfield – March 21, 2024
- Brett McAlpin – March 21, 2024
In an order from Lee, the sentencings were postponed in order to provide sufficient time for the completion of the presentence reports and in light of the court’s upcoming trial calendar.
The men admitted in August 2023 to subjecting Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker to numerous acts of racially motivated, violent torture.
After a neighbor told one of the former officers that the two were staying at a home in Braxton with a white woman, he assembled a group of five other officers. They burst into the home without a warrant and assaulted Jenkins and Parker with stun guns, a sex toy and other objects, prosecutors said in court, reading a lengthy description of the abuse.
The officers taunted the men with racial slurs and poured milk, alcohol and chocolate syrup over their faces. After a mock execution went awry and Jenkins was shot in the mouth, they devised a coverup that included planting drugs and a gun. False charges stood against Jenkins and Parker for months.
The conspiracy unraveled after one officer told the sheriff he had lied, leading to confessions from the others.
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FILE – In this Forrest County Adult Detention Center booking photo, is Brett McAlpin a former sheriff’s deputy in Rankin County, Miss., taken in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023. McAlpin, who is one of six former Mississippi law officers, including some who call themselves the “Goon Squad,” will plead
guilty to state charges Monday, Aug. 14, for their racist assault on two Black men that ended with an officer shooting one man in the mouth. (Forrest County
Adult Detention Center via AP, File) -
Hunter Elward appears in court on Aug. 14, 2023. (WJTV) -
Christian Dedmon appears in court on Aug. 14, 2023. (WJTV) -
Jeffrey Middleton appears in court on Aug. 14, 2023. (WJTV) -
Former Rankin County sheriff’s deputy Daniel Opdyke appears in the Rankin County Circuit Court in Brandon, Miss., Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. Opdyke is one of six white former Mississippi law officers that pleaded guilty to state charges on Monday for torturing two Black men in a racist assault. All six had recently admitted their guilt in a connected federal civil rights case. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
FILE – This is a Forrest County Adult Detention Center booking photograph of Joshua Hartfield a former Richland police officer, taken in Hattiesburg, Miss.,
on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023. Hartfield, who is one of six former Mississippi law officers, including some who call themselves the “Goon Squad,” will plead
guilty to state charges Monday, Aug. 14, for their racist assault on two Black men that ended with an officer shooting one man in the mouth. (Forrest County
Adult Detention Center via AP, File)
Former Rankin County sheriff’s Deputies Brett McAlpin, Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke, and former Richland city police Officer Joshua Hartfield, who was off duty during the assault, pleaded guilty to numerous federal and state charges including assault, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
The charges followed an investigation by The Associated Press that 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.
Prosecutors say some of the officers called themselves the “Goon Squad” for of their willingness to use excessive force and cover up attacks.
They agreed to prosecutor-recommended sentences ranging from five to 30 years, although the judge isn’t bound by that. Time served for separate convictions at the state level will run concurrently with the potentially longer federal sentences.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.