KENTUCKY – A seven-year prison sentence awaits an ex-Kentucky prison sergeant who failed to stop other guards from assaulting a shackled inmate, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Eric L. Nantell, 48, was sentenced Monday on charges of deprivation of civil rights, obstruction of justice and making false statements to the FBI.
Nantell, who was a sergeant at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex, deprived the inmate of his civil rights by not intervening to stop the guards’ assault of the prisoner and obstructed justice by misleading state investigators, according to a DOJ news release.
Nantell’s sentencing was the final court case in the matter. Six other officers involved in the inmate’s assault previously pleaded guilty, and three testified against Nantell during the four-day trial.
The inmate who was assaulted by the guards was described as nonviolent, “lying face-down, wearing handcuffs and leg shackles and isolated in a prison shower cell.”
Nantell watched in silence as the officers “repeatedly” punched and kicked the inmate’s head and back, the release states. It adds that Nantell watched over 20 seconds and then walked away as the assault continued.
Nantell then lied to prison supervisors, Kentucky State Police detectives and a special FBI agent as part of a cover-up scheme, the release notes.
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