Former Oklahoma Jail Superintendents Sentenced for Excessive Force

Raymond A. Barnes, 46, the former superintendent of the Muskogee County Jail, and Christopher A. Brown, 35, the former assistant superintendent, were resentenced in federal court yesterday on multiple counts of civil rights offenses related to allegations of excessive force on inmates at the jail between August 2009 and May 2011.

Barnes was sentenced to two years in prison followed by three years of supervised release, while Brown was sentenced to 12 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Both men were previously convicted of conspiring to violate the rights of inmates housed at the jail.

The defendants were found guilty of using excessive force on inmates, including slamming and throwing handcuffed inmates to the ground, and threatening to fire employees who reported abusive behavior. They were also accused of perpetuating an environment that allowed unlawful beatings and assaults against inmates to continue indefinitely.

“Corrections officers who use excessive force against inmates in their custody are violating the Constitution and their sworn oaths to uphold it,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler. “This department will vigorously enforce the civil rights laws of our nation.”

The case was investigated by the Muskogee Resident Agency of the Oklahoma City Division of the FBI and prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Fara Gold and Trial Attorney Dana Mulhauser of the Civil Rights Division.

Both defendants were previously sentenced to 12 months and six months in prison, respectively, but their convictions were upheld on appeal and the sentences were overturned due to procedural unreasonableness.

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the trial judge had not adequately explained why the sentences were so much less severe than the sentences called for under the Sentencing Guidelines.