JACKSON, Miss. (NEWSnet/AP) — A federal judge has, for the second time, postponed sentencing for six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to charges for torturing two Black men.
Sentencing had been set to begin Jan. 16, but a court hearing schedule shows that U.S. District Judge Tom Lee has pushed back sentencing to March 19.
In October, he granted motions from some of the former officers to delay sentencing, after their attorneys said they needed more time to evaluate sentencing reports and prepare objections.
Former Rankin County sheriff’s Deputies Brett McAlpin, Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke, and former Richland city police Officer Joshua Hartfield, who was off duty during the assault, pleaded guilty to numerous federal and state charges, including assault, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
The men admitted in August to subjecting Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker to numerous acts racially motivated torture. In a January 2023 episode, a group of six officers burst into a home without a warrant and assaulted Jenkins and Parker with stun guns, a sex toy and other objects, prosecutors said.
After a mock execution went awry when Jenkins was shot in the mouth, they devised a coverup that included planting drugs and a gun. False charges stood against Jenkins and Parker for months.
The conspiracy unraveled after one officer told the sheriff he had lied, leading to confessions from the others.
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