JACKSON, Tenn. — Two former West Tennessee prison guards have pleaded guilty to beating an inmate and then lying about it.

Federal prosecutors said Monday that 24-year-old Joshua Ryan Jones and 40-year-old Roger Forrester, former corrections officers at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, pleaded guilty in federal court to violating the civil rights of an inmate.

Prosecutors said the two admitted that on April 15, 2008, they used unreasonable force when Jones repeatedly kicked and Forrester repeatedly punched a handcuffed inmate without provocation.

Additionally, Jones and Forrester admitted that they obstructed justice by providing false information to investigators.

They face up to six years in prison and a maximum fine of $350,000.