Two corrections officers plead guilty in the death of a mentally ill man at an Alabama prison

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Two corrections officers have agreed to plead guilty to federal charges. mentally ill man froze to death – this marks a total of eight prison employees who took plea deals related to death.

Federal court records filed Monday and Tuesday show Daniel Lee Allen Brown agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of criminal deprivation of civil rights, while Megan Johnson agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of criminal conspiracy to deprive an inmate of liberty. did. their rights.

According to federal court documents, Brown and Johnson were corrections officers who worked various shifts during the two weeks Tony Mitchell was incarcerated at the Walker County Jail.

The plea agreements were filed separately, but both describe a pervasive culture of retaliation against incarcerated individuals previously accused of violence against law enforcement. Five more fixes officers pleaded guilty to federal charges in Mitchell’s death and a nurse under contract to the prison He pleaded guilty in late October.

Lawyers for Brown and Johnson did not respond to emails seeking comment.

Mitchell, 33, died on January 26, 2023. The death certificate states that the cause of death was sepsis caused by hypothermia and medical negligence.

Mitchell was arrested on Jan. 12 after a relative filed a welfare claim for him. The sheriff’s office said at the time that Mitchell talked about the gates to hell and claimed to have fired a gun at officers. Prosecutors wrote in the plea agreement that Mitchell was disoriented when he arrived at the jail, had difficulty standing and walking, and his face was painted blue.

Mitchell was kept in a concrete cell, sometimes referred to as the prison’s “drunk tank,” without bedding, a bathroom or running water. In previous court documents, Mitchell was described as “nearly always naked, wet, cold and covered in feces while lying on the cement floor without a mat or blanket.” He eventually became mostly unresponsive to officers.

Johnson falsely claimed Mitchell was “too combative” for medical attention and denied a nurse access to Mitchell, according to his plea agreement. Johnson said his mischaracterization of Mitchell was “an excuse to treat him badly.”

The court filing describes at least one instance in 2022 in which Johnson said leadership “encouraged guards to use excessive force to put pressure on inmates in the future.” Johnson also described another instance in which a police officer bragged about punching a prisoner who tried to escape until he bled.

Johnson did not voice concerns about Mitchell’s health to anyone for fear of appearing “soft” and because he wanted to be “one of the kids,” the court document said.

Separately, Brown’s plea agreement stated that he expressed concerns about Mitchell’s conditions to a superior at the prison, who conveyed those concerns to his shift captain. Neither employee was named in the plea agreement.

But when Mitchell’s conditions remained the same, Brown “sought to avoid the scrutiny of Prison administrators by joining others in prison who allowed (Mitchell) to suffer from the brutal conditions in which he was housed.”

The plea agreement said Brown failed to take “reasonable steps” to save Mitchell despite his life-threatening health conditions.

Both defendants are scheduled to appear in court in mid-December.

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Safiyah Riddle is a syndicated member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. report for america is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.