6 Rikers Island Guards Sentenced to Prison for Beating an Inmate

RIKERS ISLAND, NY — Six former prison guards received prison sentences Friday, ranging from four-and-a-half to six-and-a-half years, for their roles in the 2012 beating of inmate Jahmal Lightfoot at the controversial prison complex on Rikers Island.

Two of the former guards held high-ranking positions at the time of the crime. Eliseo Perez Jr. was the assistant head of security at the prison, while Gerald Vaughn was a captain, according to the New York Daily News. They were sentenced to five-and-a-half and six-and-a-half years behind bars, respectively.

Perez was also the head of the anti-violence unit in the prison.

The most serious charge — first-degree attempted gang assault — carried a potential penalty of 15 years in prison. All six officers were also found guilty of attempted assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree, official misconduct and falsifying business records.

Two other officers, Harmon Frierson and Dwayne Maynard, were convicted only of official misconduct for their involvement in the beating, and were ordered to complete 500 hours of community service. The investigation found that the officers had falsified reports to make it seem as though Lightfoot had initiated the violence.

The guards began beating Lightfoot after he dropped a metal object, possibly a weapon. They took him to a holding pen outside the view of video cameras, where they beat him. Lightfoot's eye sockets were both fractured in the assault, and his nose broken.

Rikers Island has become the target of sharp criticism in light of multiple reports of violence and harsh conditions.

Kalief Browder, a teen who was held at Rikers while awaiting trial for a crime for which he was never convicted, killed himself in 2015 after spending two of his three years at the jail in solitary confinement, as reported by the New Yorker. The New York Times, meanwhile, found 62 cases of guards injuring inmates at the prison between August 2014 and January 2015.

In light of these high-profile scandals, Melissa Mark-Viverito, speaker of the New York City Council, has advocated for the complete closure of Rikers Island. And New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently called the closure an "intriguing idea."

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