MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee correctional officer pleaded guilty Thursday to beating a prison inmate in an attack allegedly involving other officers, federal prosecutors said.
Nathaniel Griffin, 29, entered his plea to the federal civil rights offense in a Memphis court, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a news release. Griffin faces up to 10 years in prison at sentencing in November.
Prosecutors said Griffin and four other Tennessee Department of Correction officers entered an inmate’s cell at a mental health unit at a Tiptonville prison in February. Prosecutors said the inmate spit while seated on a bench, with his arms by his sides.
Griffin and the other guards covered a surveillance camera and repeatedly punched the inmate, prosecutors said. Griffin then spoke with a superior officer with the rank of a corporal who told the officers to come up with a false story that did not include punching the inmate.
Prosecutors identified the other guards, the corporal and the inmate by initials only.