RANKIN COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – Six former law enforcement members who pled guilty to a long list of state and federal charges for torturing two Black men were sentenced again on Wednesday, April 10.
Former Rankin County deputies Brett McAlpin, Daniel Opdyke, Christian Dedmon, Hunter Elward, and Jeffrey Middleton, as well as former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield, were sentenced on state charges in Rankin County on Wednesday. They were previously sentenced on federal charges in March 2024, and their sentences ranged from 10 to 40 years.
McAlpin, who was the fourth highest-ranking officer in the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office, was sentenced in state court Wednesday to 15 years in prison. Middleton and Opdyke also received 15 years in prison.
Elward and Dedmon were both sentenced to 20 years in prison on state charges, and Hartfield was sentenced to 10 years in prison on state charges.
Time served for the state convictions will run at the same time as the federal sentences, and the men will serve their time in federal penitentiaries.
The victims of the so-called “Goon Squad,” Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker, were subjected to numerous acts of racially motivated, violent torture last year.
In January 2023, the group of six burst into a Rankin County home without a warrant and assaulted Jenkins and Parker with stun guns, a sex toy and other objects. Elward admitted to shoving a gun into Jenkins’ mouth and firing in a “mock execution” that went awry.
The terror began on Jan. 24, 2023, with a racist call for extrajudicial violence when a white person phoned McAlpin and complained that two Black men were staying with a white woman at a house in Braxton. McAlpin told Deputy Dedmon, who texted a group of white deputies so willing to use excessive force they called themselves “The Goon Squad.”
Once inside, they handcuffed Jenkins and his friend 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.
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FILE – This combination of photos shows, from top left, former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton, Daniel Opdyke and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield appearing at the Rankin County Circuit Court in Brandon, Miss., Aug. 14, 2023. Two Black men who were tortured for hours by the six Mississippi law enforcement officers in 2023 called Monday, March 18, 2024, for a federal judge to impose the strictest possible penalties at their sentencings this week. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File) -
Daniel Opdyke, a former Rankin County Sheriff’s Deputy and one of six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges, looks for his family in the Rankin County Circuit Court after being sentenced in state court for his involvement in the 2023 racially motivated torture of two Black men, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss. Time served for the state convictions will run concurrently with the federal sentences, and the men will serve their time in federal penitentiaries. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Melvin Jenkins, center, his son Michael Corey Jenkins, left, listen as their lead civil attorney Malik Shabazz, right, comments on the sentencing of six former Mississippi law enforcement officers for the racially motivated torture of the younger Jenkins, and his friend, Eddie Terrell Parker, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Hunter Elward, a former Rankin County Sheriff’s Deputy and one of six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges enters the Rankin County Circuit Court for the state sentencing of his involvement in the 2023 racially motivated torture of two Black men, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss. Rankin County Circuit Judge Steve Ratcliff gave the six former Mississippi law enforcement officers yearslong state sentences that were shorter than the amount of time in federal prison that they had already received. Time served for the state convictions will run concurrently, or at the same time, as the federal sentences, and the men will serve their time in federal penitentiaries. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Michael Corey Jenkins, right, and Eddie Terrell Parker, two victims of racially motivated torture by six former Mississippi law enforcement officers, confer following the sentencing in state court of the former lawmen for their roles in the 2023 assault, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss. Time served for the state convictions will run concurrently with the federal sentences, and the men will serve their time in federal penitentiaries. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Hunter Elward, a former Rankin County Sheriff’s Deputy and one of six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges, sits in the Rankin County Circuit Court and listens as victims impact statements are read, before the state sentencing of his involvement in the 2023 racially motivated torture of two Black men, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss. Rankin County Circuit Judge Steve Ratcliff gave the six former Mississippi law enforcement officers yearslong state sentences that were shorter than the amount of time in federal prison that they had already received. Time served for the state convictions will run concurrently, or at the same time, as the federal sentences, and the men will serve their time in federal penitentiaries. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Daniel Opdyke, a former Rankin County Sheriff’s Deputy and one of six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges enters the Rankin County Circuit Court for the state sentencing of his involvement in the 2023 racially motivated torture of two Black men, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss. Time served for the state convictions will run concurrently with the federal sentences, and the men will serve their time in federal penitentiaries. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Joshua Hartfield, a former City of Richland police officer and one of six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges, listens as the victims’ impact statements, are read in the Rankin County Circuit Court prior to the state sentencing for his involvement in the 2023 racially motivated torture of two Black men, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss. Time served for the state convictions will run concurrently with the federal sentences, and the men will serve their time in federal penitentiaries. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Joshua Hartfield, center, a former City of Richland police officer and one of six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges enters the Rankin County Circuit Court to listen to the victims’ impact statements, prior to the state sentencing for his involvement in the 2023 racially motivated torture of two Black men, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss. Time served for the state convictions will run concurrently with the federal sentences, and the men will serve their time in federal penitentiaries. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Eddie Terrell Parker, right, one of two victims of racially motivated torture by six former Mississippi law enforcement officers, with his friend Michael Corey Jenkins, reacts during their sentencing in state court for their roles in the 2023 assault, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss. Rankin County Circuit Judge Steve Ratcliff gave the six former Mississippi law enforcement officers yearslong state sentences that were shorter than the amount of time in federal prison that they had already received. Time served for the state convictions will run concurrently, or at the same time, as the federal sentences, and the men will serve their time in federal penitentiaries. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Jeffrey Middleton, a former Rankin County Sheriff’s Deputy and one of six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges enters the Rankin County Circuit Court for the state sentencing of his involvement in the 2023 racially motivated torture of two Black men, is sworn into court, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss. Rankin County Circuit Judge Steve Ratcliff gave the six former Mississippi law enforcement officers yearslong state sentences that were shorter than the amount of time in federal prison that they had already received. Time served for the state convictions will run concurrently, or at the same time, as the federal sentences, and the men will serve their time in federal penitentiaries. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Melvin Jenkins, right, comments on the sentencing of six former Mississippi law enforcement officers for the racially motivated torture of his son, Michael Corey Jenkins, center, and his friend, Eddie Terrell Parker, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss. Also attending the sentencing was Michael’s mother, Mary Jenkins, left. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Michael Corey Jenkins, bearing the scaring from being shot in the mouth by a former Mississippi law enforcement officer, appears in a Rankin County Courtroom to read his victims impact statement, as the men are sentenced in state court, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss. Rankin County Circuit Judge Steve Ratcliff on Wednesday gave the six white former Mississippi law enforcement officers yearslong state sentences that were shorter than the amount of time in federal prison they had already received, but longer than what state prosecutors had recommended. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Eddie Terrell Parker who with his friend Michael Corey Jenkins, were victims of racially motivated torture by six former Mississippi law enforcement officers, speaks to reporters following the sentencing in state court of the former lawmen for their roles in the 2023 assault, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss. Rankin County Circuit Judge Steve Ratcliff gave the six former Mississippi law enforcement officers yearslong state sentences that were shorter than the amount of time in federal prison that they had already received. Time served for the state convictions will run concurrently, or at the same time, as the federal sentences, and the men will serve their time in federal penitentiaries. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Michael Corey Jenkins, who with his friend Eddie Terrell Parker, unseen, were victims of racially motivated torture by six former Mississippi law enforcement officers, speaks to reporters following the sentencing in state court of the former lawmen for their roles in the 2023 assault, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss. Rankin County Circuit Judge Steve Ratcliff gave the six former Mississippi law enforcement officers yearslong state sentences that were shorter than the amount of time in federal prison that they had already received. Time served for the state convictions will run concurrently, or at the same time, as the federal sentences, and the men will serve their time in federal penitentiaries. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Michael Corey Jenkins, right, stands with his mother Mary Jenkins, following the sentencing of six former Mississippi law enforcement officers for the racially motivated torture of Jenkins, and his friend, Eddie Terrell Parker, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss. Rankin County Circuit Judge Steve Ratcliff gave the six former Mississippi law enforcement officers yearslong state sentences that were shorter than the amount of time in federal prison that they had already received. Time served for the state convictions will run concurrently, or at the same time, as the federal sentences, and the men will serve their time in federal penitentiaries. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Co-civil counsel Trent Walker, right, comments on the sentencing of six former Mississippi law enforcement officers, as Eddie Terrell Parker center, and lead civil attorney Malik Shabazz, left, listen, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss. Parker and his friend Michael Corey Jenkins, unseen, were the subjects of racially motivated torture in 2023 by the then lawmen. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Rankin County Circuit Judge Steve Ratcliff speaks during the state sentencing of six former Mississippi law enforcement officers for their 2023 racially motivated torture of two Black men, Eddie Terrell Parker and Michael Corey Jenkins, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Brandon, Miss. Time served for the state convictions will run concurrently with the federal sentences, and the men will serve their time in federal penitentiaries. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
After Elward shot Jenkins in the mouth, they devised a coverup that included planting drugs and a gun. False charges stood against Jenkins and Parker for months. Jenkins suffered a lacerated tongue and broken jaw.
In March 2023, months before federal prosecutors announced charges in August, 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.
All six former officers are facing potentially decades-long prison sentences on the federal charges. Time served for separate convictions at the state level will run concurrently with the potentially longer federal sentences.
The majority-white Rankin County is just east of the state capital, Jackson, home to one of the highest percentages of Black residents of any major U.S. city.
The officers warned Jenkins and Parker to “stay out of Rankin County and go back to Jackson or ‘their side’ of the Pearl River,” court documents say, referencing an area with higher concentrations of Black residents.
Attorneys for several of the deputies have said their clients became ensnared in a culture of corruption that was not only permitted, but encouraged by leaders within the sheriff’s office.
For months, Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey, whose deputies committed the crimes, said little about the episode. After the officers pleaded guilty in August, Bailey said the officers had gone rogue and promised to change the department.
Jenkins and Parker have called for his resignation, and they have filed a $400 million civil lawsuit against the department.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.