Six former Mississippi law enforcement officers were sentenced to decades in prison Wednesday in state court after pleading guilty to a slew of state and federal charges, including torturing and beating two Black men. Rankin County Circuit Judge Steve Ratcliff sentenced the men to state jail terms that were shorter than their previous federal prison sentences.
Mississippi ‘goon squad: U.S. District Judge Tom Lee labeled their conduct “egregious and despicable”
Brett McAlpin, 53, a former high-ranking deputy, received a 20-year state term. Joshua Hartfield, a 32-year-old former police officer, got 15 years. Christian Deldmon was sentenced to 25 years, Hunter Elward to 45, and Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke to 20 years each.
The state sentences imposed on Wednesday were ordered to run concurrently, or simultaneously, with their respective federal terms, which each of the six men got at a separate hearing in March. McAlpin, Hartfield, Dedmon, and Elward were sentenced to approximately 27 years, 10 years, 40 years, and 20 years in jail for their federal convictions, respectively.
In that federal hearing, U.S. District Judge Tom Lee sentenced Dedmon for his involvement in the gang attack on Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker in January 2023, as well as another incident in December. Middleton and Opdyke each received 17 and a half years in federal prison.
In March, U.S. District Judge Tom Lee labeled their conduct “egregious and despicable” as he sentenced five of the six men to terms near the top of the federal guidelines. The 2023 attack included beatings, repeated use of stun guns, and assault with the sex toy before one of the victims was shot in the mouth in a mock execution.
Top law enforcement officials in the country, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, were outraged by the case, calling the cops’ actions a “heinous attack on citizens they had sworn an oath to protect.”
Brett McAlpin, the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office’s fourth-highest ranking officer, was the first defendant sentenced on Wednesday. Brett McAlpin was sentenced to 15 years in state court on one offense and five years on another on Wednesday, only weeks after a federal judge sentenced him to about 27 years in jail.
The accusations stemmed from an Associated Press investigation in March
Prior to the sentencing hearing, Jenkins and Parker’s attorney, Malik Shabazz, stated that the state sentencing hearing would be a “test” for Ratliff and state prosecutors.
“The state criminal sentencing is important because historically, the state of Mississippi has lagged behind or ignored racial crimes and police brutality against Blacks, and the Department of Justice has had to lead the way,” Shabazz said.
The defendants include five former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies — Brett McAlpin, 53, Hunter Elward, 31, Christian Dedmon, 29, Jeffrey Middleton, 46, and Daniel Opdyke, 28 — as well as Joshua Hartfield, 32, a former Richland police officer who was not on duty at the time of the assault.
All six former cops pleaded guilty to state charges of obstructing justice and conspiracy to impede prosecution. Dedmon and Elward, who kicked in a door, both admitted to a house invasion.
The accusations stemmed from an Associated Press investigation in March that linked several of the officers to at least four violent encounters in 2019 that killed two Black men.
The former cops acknowledged entering into a home without a warrant and torturing Jenkins and Parker for hours, including beatings, repeated stun gun use, and attacks with a sex toy before shooting one of the victims in the mouth.
Federal prosecutors say the terror began on January 24, 2023, with a racial call for extrajudicial violence.
A white person phoned Rankin County Deputy Brett McAlpin to report that two black men were living with a white woman at a house near Braxton, Mississippi. McAlpin informed Christian Dedmon, who texted a group of white deputies nicknamed “The Goon Squad” for their willingness to use extreme force.
Once inside, they chained Jenkins and his friend Parker and poured milk, wine, and chocolate syrup on their faces while ridiculing them with racial obscenities. They made them strip naked and shower together to hide the mess. They insulted the victims with racial slurs and assaulted them with sex objects.
In a botched mock execution, Elward shot Jenkins in the mouth, lacerating his tongue and shattering his jaw. The officers planned a cover-up, agreeing to plant drugs on Jenkins and Parker. The men faced false charges for months.
Prosecutors say McAlpin and Middleton, the group’s eldest members, threatened to kill other police if they spoke up. Opdyke was the first to admit what they did, according to his attorney, Jeff Reynolds.
Opdyke provided investigators with a WhatsApp text conversation in which the police discussed their strategy, Reynolds said.
The only defendant who did not get a federal prison term at the top of the sentencing guidelines was Hartfield, who did not work in the same sheriff’s department as the others and was not a member of the “Goon Squad.”