Mississippi correctional officer sentenced to prison for assaulting inmate

A former Mississippi Department of Corrections officer has been sentenced to prison for assaulting an inmate in 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.

Shelley Griffith, 29, was sentenced to serve 70 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan II in Jackson on Friday, said a news release.

Griffith was an officer at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in May 2016 when she and two other guards kicked, punched and stomped inmate Leon Hayes.

The assault injured Hayes and involved the use of a "dangerous weapon," DOJ said in the release, which did not provide further details on the beating.

Griffith had pleaded guilty on Dec. 14, 2017 to violating the civil rights of the inmate by using excessive force against him, the release said.

The two other former guards, Reginald Brown and Sharalyn McClain, have also pleaded guilty. Brown was sentenced to 60 months in prison. McClain will be sentenced in March, the release said.

Hayes is still incarcerated at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. He's serving a 30-year sentence for assault and drug charges.

Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division said in a statement, "This type of behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by the Department of Justice. The Civil Rights Division is committed to prosecuting those who violate the civil rights of others."

Michelle Sutphin, special agent in charge of the FBI's Jackson division, said, "Violating a person’s civil rights, whether the person is incarcerated or not, is a serious offense and only damages the already delicate relationship between corrections officers and inmates."

The FBI will continue working with partner agencies to investigate violations of civil rights within Mississippi prisons, Sutphin said.

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Earlier this week, Sutphin and U.S. attorneys for Mississippi released a statement saying they are "aware of the allegations regarding Mississippi's prisons."

In recent weeks, Mississippi's prison system had been embroiled with violence. Five inmates were killed in a week, a unit was set on fire and two inmates escaped and were later recaptured.

"Allegations of the violation and deprivation of civil rights, as well as criminal activity, continue to be taken very seriously by our offices," the statement said. "To report federal criminal violations to the FBI, go to https://tips.fbi.gov. To file a complaint to DOJ’s Civil Rights Division about conditions within the prisons, call 877-218-5228 or 202-514-6255.”

Contact Alissa Zhu at azhu@gannett.com. Follow @AlissaZhu on Twitter.