by Two other ex-cops were sentenced for torturing two Black men during a January 2023 home raid, with one crying as he told the victims he was a “monster” that night.
Daniel Opdyke was sentenced to 17.5 years on Wednesday morning before Christian Dedmon was sentenced to 40 years in prison for his role in the case later in the day.
On Tuesday, other former Rankin County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Hunter Elward and Jeffrey Middleton, were jailed.
The group, which also included Brett McAlpin and Joshua Hartfield, broke into a home in Braxton, where Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker were staying, without a warrant.
They then tortured the pair several times including tasting, waterboarding and assaulting them with a dildo, before Elward put Mr Jenkins in the mouth.
At his sentencing on Wednesday, The Associated Press Opdyke reported that his time behind bars gave him time to reflect on his part.
“The weight of my actions and the harm I’ve caused will haunt me every day,” Opdyke told the victims, crying as he spoke. “I wish I could take your suffering away.”
When Dedmon was sentenced, the AP said he did not look at the victims but said he would never forgive himself for the pain he caused.
Mr Jenkins responded through his lawyer, describing Dedmon as “the most aggressive, sickest and worst person” of the six.
Both men apologized after Elward turned to the victims and apologized on Tuesday morning, before being jailed for around 20 years.
“I’m sorry,” the former officer told Mr Jenkins and Mr Parker, CNN reported. “I don’t want to get too personal with you, Michael.
“There’s no telling what you’ve seen. I’m sorry I caused that. I hate myself for it. I hate that I gave you that. I accept all responsibility.”
Mr Jenkins is said to have bowed, while Mr Parker stood up and said: “We forgive you, man”.
At a hearing later on Tuesday evening, Jeffrey Middleton was sentenced to 17 years in prison for his part.
The group, calling themselves the “Goon Squad” for using excessive force, called the pair racial slurs during the January 2023 raid, telling them to stay out of Raskin County.
Mr Jenkins and Mr Parker were beaten, kicked, groped 17 times, assaulted with a dildo and forced to “ingest liquids”. Dedmon also fired his gun twice to intimidate the men.
When that was over, Elward removed a bullet from his gun and then put the device in Mr. Jenkins’ mouth before pulling the trigger. Elward then racked the gun intending to fire a second time but instead, the firearm discharged, nicking Mr Jenkins’ tongue and breaking his jaw.
Elward faced the most serious charge from the January 2023 attack – discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
Although he faced up to 30 years in prison, the judge chose a sentence of around 20 years.
After Elward fired his gun during the incident last January, with the victim lying on the floor bleeding, the defendants did not provide medical aid.
Instead, the Justice Department said, they gathered outside the house to come up with a false cover story.
Part of that cover-up included planting a gun on Mr. Jenkins, destroying surveillance footage and sending fake drug evidence to the crime lab.
The victims then filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in June 2023, and the indictments were unsealed in August.
It was then that the former officers pleaded guilty to a combination of 13 felonies.
“No one should be subjected to the kind of harrowing, traumatic and horrific acts of violence committed by these law enforcement officers,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in August.
“The physical and emotional impact of their crimes resulted from a calculated, deliberate and horrific course of conduct that required a significant response from the authorities.”
Hartfield and McAlpin are due to be sentenced on Thursday.
Despite the words of forgiveness, Mr Parker said in his victim impact statement that the crime will affect him forever.
“The evil actions of the Rankin County ‘Goon Squad’ deeply affected and scarred me forever,” said Mr. Parker’s statement, read by attorney Malik Shabazz.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to sleep at night. I fear that I will be attacked again and even killed.”
Mr Jenkins said he never thought he would be the person he was before the incident.
In a statement following the guilty pleas last summer, Attorney General Merrick B Garland said the Department of Justice would hold officers accountable who abuse the public’s trust.
“The defendants in this case tortured and inflicted unimaginable harm on their victims, grossly violated the civil rights of the citizens they were supposed to protect, and shamefully betrayed the oath they had sworn as law enforcement officers, ” said Mr. Garland.
