Three San Francisco sheriff’s deputies were charged Tuesday for allegedly forcing jail inmates to face off in gladiator-style fights and wagering on the bouts for their own entertainment.

In announcing the charges, San Francisco district attorney George Gascón called the behavior of deputy sheriffs Eugene Jones and Clifford Chiba, and former deputy Scott Neu, “serious crimes that damage the moral authority of law enforcement.

“Subjecting inmates who are in the care and custody of the state to degrading and inhumane treatment,” Gascón said in written statement, “makes a mockery of our justice system and undermines any efforts towards rehabilitation.”

What authorities are calling a non-consensual “fight club” behind bars first came to light when the father of an inmate, who had been forced to fight a year ago, alerted his son’s public defender. Other inmates later came forward.

Neu was charged with four felony counts of assault by an officer under color of authority and four felony counts of making criminal threats. He was also charged with misdemeanor counts of inhumanity to a prisoner, and cruel and unusual punishment of a prisoner.

Jones was charged with two felony counts of assault by an officer under color of authority and misdemeanor counts of cruel and unusual punishment of a prisoner, and willful omission to perform his official duties.

Chiba faces two misdemeanor counts of cruel and unusual punishment of a prisoner and one count of willful omission to perform his official duties.

On 5 and 6 March, Neu allegedly made inmates Ricardo Palakiko-Garcia and Stanley Harris fight each other on the seventh floor of the county jail where they were being held.

“I’ve been like basically witnessing and going through ... deputies betting against me and forcing me to fight,” Palakiko-Garcia told public defender Jeff Adachi late last March, according to a transcript released by Adachi’s office. “And if I don’t fight, then he’s basically telling me that he was gonna beat me up, cuff me, and tase me all at once ... and deputies are also betting against, you know, me and another inmate.”

The district attorney’s office, in charging the officers, said the inmates fought because they felt they had no choice. They were instructed to avoid punching each other in the face so that any injuries would not show. Garcia, who was significantly smaller than Harris, sustained bruises to his back and injured his ribs.

“I have a hard time breathing still,” Garcia told Adachi, “and I can’t sleep on the right side of my ... body. And this occurred like in the beginning, the beginning of this month, and now like I believe it’s about, what, three weeks later and I’m still witnessing pain.”

Eugene Cerbone, president of the San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, defended Chiba and Jones Tuesday, saying that the sheriffs department and the federal government investigated the allegations against Chiba and Jones soon after they were reported.

“They found no criminal wrongdoing,” Cerbone said. “Some of the allegations such as gambling and all that never transpired.”

On Friday evening, Harry Stern, Neu’s attorney, sent a statement to The Guardian: “While the streets of San Francisco grow more dangerous and chaotic under his watch, George Gascon seeks to distract the citizenry with a constant diet of press conferences aimed at satisfying his unquenchable thirst for self-promotion. Deputy Neu allowed two inmates to wrestle to settle a minor dispute. In retrospect, he shouldn’t have. This is the sum and substance of the case. I look forward to reviewing the evidence presented and will address it accordingly. There was no ‘fight club.’ There were incarcerated career criminals whom he allowed to let off steam.”

Sheriff of San Francisco Vicki Hennessy, who was sworn in on 8 January, did not head up the department when the alleged incidents took place. She said that former Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi and she herself instituted reforms in the department over the past year.

“I was not particularly surprised by the allegations,” Hennessy said. “But I am also looking forward to the deputies having their day in court.”

She added that she believes “the vast majority of the deputies do a great job and work very hard. I believe there has been a lack of training ... This is something I do not take very lightly. These are very serious charges. As a department we have started the process of working on some of these issues.”