Ex-officer sentenced 40 years in ‘Goon Squad’ case
A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced two former Mississippi law enforcement officers to 17½ and 40 years in prison, respectively, for their roles in a brutal, racist assault on two Black men last year.
Daniel Opdyke, 28, and Christian Dedmon, 29, both former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies who are white, were the third and fourth ex-officers sentenced this week in the January 2023 attack, which exposed what federal authorities said was a self-proclaimed “Goon Squad” of officers who meted out extrajudicial justice.
Former deputies Hunter Elward, 31, and Jeffrey Middleton, 46, on Tuesday received prison terms of over 20 years and 17½ years, respectively, for the same attack. The four men are among six officers, all white, who brutalized their victims with a stun gun and sex toys, spewed racial epithets and subjected them to a mock execution.
All six have pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges, including conspiracy and deprivation of rights. The remaining two – former sheriff’s deputy Brett McAlpin and former Richland (Mississippi) police officer Joshua Hartfield – will be sentenced Thursday.
In imposing Dedmon’s 40-year sentence, U.S. District Judge Tom Lee said the officer, who fired his gun twice during the attack to intimidate the victims, committed the most brutal and egregious acts. Dedmon and Elward were also being punished for a separate incident in which they pleaded guilty to brutalizing a white man in December 2022.
Opdyke became emotional during his sentencing hearing in federal courthouse in Jackson, Mississippi, crying as he called himself a “monster” while addressing his victims. In a separate hearing, Dedmon said he would not be able to forgive himself for his actions, according to local news accounts.
The case has drawn national attention amid ongoing demands from civil rights groups to stop the use of excessive force against and mistreatment of Black people by police. Federal prosecutors said the Mississippi officers forced entry into a Braxton, Mississippi, home on Jan. 24, 2023, without a warrant, and assaulted the two Black victims, Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Parker, with a stun gun, sex toy and other objects.
The officers then subjected the victims to a “mock execution,” which ended when Elward mistakenly shot Jenkins in the mouth, lacerating his tongue and breaking his jaw, according to federal prosecutors. Though Jenkins was bleeding, the officers failed to provide medical aid and instead concocted a coverup story that included planting a gun on Jenkins and destroying evidence, authorities said.
In a statement to the court read by his lawyer on Wednesday afternoon, Jenkins said: “Deputy Dedmon is the worst example of a police officer in the United States. Deputy Dedmon was the most aggressive, sickest and the most wicked.”
Elward’s attorney, Joe Hollomon, said Tuesday that his client’s sentence fell within the federal sentencing guidelines range specified by the plea agreement with prosecutors. Elward also must pay $79,500 in damages to Jenkins and Parker.
In court Tuesday, Elward grew visibly emotional as he apologized to his victims, telling them he was prepared to accept responsibility for his actions.
“I am truly sorry,” he said, according to news accounts.
Outside the courthouse after Elward’s sentencing, Parker said he forgave him for what he had done.
“But other than that, he did what he did, and he has to be punished for that,” Parker told reporters. “I’m satisfied.”
Jenkins, a musician who has permanent injuries to his tongue that affect his ability to sing, told reporters he does not forgive Elward: “No, I don’t, because if he wouldn’t have been caught, he’d still be doing the same thing.”
All six officers have also pleaded guilty to state charges, though they have not been sentenced.
The assault took place after a white person contacted McAlpin to report that two Black men were staying with a white woman at the home in Braxton. The officers kicked in the door and attacked the victims: using racial slurs, punching and kicking them, pouring milk, chocolate and alcohol on their faces and forcing them to shower together, authorities said.
The officers Tasered them 17 times and demanded that the men stay out of Rankin County.
In a statement after the sentencing Tuesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the former officers committed a “heinous attack on citizens they had sworn an oath to protect. … The Justice Department will hold accountable officers who violate constitutional rights, and in so doing, betray the public trust.”