Seth Dickerson

sdickerson@gannett.com

Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal and Lt. Col. Gerald Savoy have been formally accused of violating the civil rights of a group of inmates at the Iberia Parish Jail.

The charges, handed down after a joint investigation by the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley, stem from the alleged beating of five pre-trial inmates at the jail on April, 29, 2011.

Ackal is charged with one count of conspiracy against rights and two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law, and Savoy is charged with one count of conspiracy against rights and one count of deprivation of rights under color of law.



The indictment alleges that Ackal and Savoy conspired with each other and with other officers to assault the inmates and that members of the conspiracy failed to intervene and stop the assaults.

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Ackal and Savoy's indictments follow a string of guilty pleas from eight former IPSO employees.

Former jail warden Wesley Hayes, former assistant warden Jesse Hayes, former narcotics Lt. Bret Broussard, former narcotics agents Wade Bergeron, Jason Comeaux, David Hines and Byron Benjamin Lassalle and former K9 handler Robert Burns recently pleaded guilty in connection to these violations and in other cases.

According to the indictment of Ackal and Savoy, released by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Ackal ordered Lassalle to "take care of" one of the detainees after that detainee made a lewd comment. Lassalle and Hayes, accompanied by other officers then brought the detainee to the jail's chapel, where he was beat multiple times with a baton.

After the detainee blamed another inmate for making the comment, that inmate was taken to the chapel by Lassalle and beaten, the indictment says. After learning the second inmate was a sex offender, Lassalle allegedly forced him to simulate oral sex on his baton while the other officers watched.

The blame for the initial lewd comment was passed onto another inmate by the second alleged beating recipient, to which Lassalle then escorted the third inmate, who was allegedly assaulted by baton.

In a separate incident, Ackal allegedly ordered officers to "take care of" another pair of inmates, one of which had been discovered to have been writing about poor conditions in the jail. The two were also allegedly brought to the chapel and beaten.

If convicted, Ackal and Savoy each face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each of the civil rights violations, as well as a potential $250,000 fine for each count.

Ackal won a third term as sheriff in November in a runoff against former jail warden Roberta Boudreaux.

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