Sentencing in the Mississippi “Goon Squad” case concluded on March 21 when the last two of the six former Rankin County law enforcement officers were sentenced in a Jackson courtroom, CBS News reported.
The six white former law enforcement officers — five Rankin County deputies and one off-duty Richland police officer – pleaded guilty in August to breaking into a home and torturing two black men, Eddie Terrell Parker and Michael Corey Jenkins in January 2023.
The six men handcuffed Parker and Jenkins before torturing them for 90 minutes using stun guns and other objects as they mocked them with racial slurs.
The highest-ranking among them, 53-year-old former deputy Brett McAlpin was sentenced on March 21 to 27 years. The final member of the “Goon Squad,” former Richland officer Joshua Hartfield, 32, was sentenced later that afternoon to 10 years.
Before US District Judge Tom Lee imposed his sentence, McAlpin apologized to Jenkins and Parker, saying it was all “very wrong.” He said he was sorry for his role in “something that made law enforcement look so bad.”
The day before, Judge Lee sentenced 29-year-old former deputy Christian Dedmon and 28-year-old former deputy Daniel Opdyke to 40 years and 17 and a half years respectively.
Former deputies Hunter Elward, 31, and Jeffrey Middleton, 46, were each sentenced on March 19, with Elward receiving nearly 20 years and Middleton receiving 17 and a half years.
During his sentencing hearing, Daniel Opdyke broke down in sobs as he apologized to Jenkins and Parker. He said his time in jail gave him the time to reflect on how he turned “into the monster I became that night.” He said he would be haunted “every day” by the harm he caused.
In sentencing each of the defendants, Judge Lee, who described the men’s actions as “egregious and despicable,” imposed prison terms near the high end of sentencing guidelines.
Parker and Jenkins last year filed a $400 million federal civil rights lawsuit against Rankin County.
