Ex-Rikers Island Guard Gets Jail For Covering Up Inmate Beating

NEW YORK, NY — A former Rikers Island jail guard will serve 16 months in federal prison after trying to cover up his 2014 beating of a handcuffed inmate, federal prosecutors said. U.S. District Court Judge Valerie E. Caproni sentenced Rodiny Calypso of Queens on Thursday following his August conviction for filing a false statement, prosecutors said.

Calypso "sucker-punched" a handcuffed inmate in the head in the shower area of a Rikers Island prison, but then filed a "Use of Force" report the next day saying he only hit the inmate in the torso, prosecutors said.

"Other correction officers should think long and hard about telling the truth on the Use of Force forms," Caproni said in court Thursday, according to prosecutors. "It is important that they know that it’s not just that use of force that will get you in trouble, but lying to cover it up will, too."

Surveillance cameras recorded the Feb. 27, 2014 incident that led to Calypso's arrest, prosecutors said. It started with Calypso and the inmate exchanging heated words while the inmate was showering, according to prosecutors.

Calypso eventually handcuffed the inmate and punched him in the face several times, prosecutors said. After Calypso lost his balance, another officer restrained the inmate while Calypso elbowed the inmate in the head five more times, prosecutors said.

The next day, Calypso filed a Use of Force report with the Department of Corrections on which he inaccurately described the incident, saying the inmate acted aggressively and that he only hit the inmate in the torso, prosecutors said.

Court records show a jury in August found Calypso guilty of filing a false statement but acquitted him of two other charges: obstruction of justice and violating civil rights. Calypso was fired from his corrections post after the conviction.

Calypso's defense attorney asked Caproni to sentence him only to probation, noting that Calypso served in the Iraq war and has a wife and two children.

"As a result of this conviction he has lost the ability to support his family," Calypso's lawyer, Joey Jackson, wrote to the judge on Nov. 21. "Additionally, he will be forever stigmatized by the consequences of the instant conviction. He (has) also been publicly humiliated and shamed."

(Lead image: People walk by a sign at the entrance to Rikers Island on March 31. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)