PENDLETON, Ind. — Two former correctional officers in Pendleton have been sentenced to prison for assaulting an inmate.
Zachary Graham, 34, was sentenced to three years in prison and Matthew Franklin, 31, received a two-year sentence after pleading guilty to assaulting inmate David Lee Perry at the Pendleton Correctional Facility in February 2018. The former officers pleaded guilty to a felony charge of battery resulting in bodily injury, a misdemeanor charge of battery resulting in injury and a misdemeanor charge of false informing, according to our partners at the Anderson Herald Bulletin.
Charges of official misconduct against the officers were dropped in exchange for their plea.
According to court documents, Graham and Franklin were upset that Perry had spit on another staff member. Franklin exchanged words with the inmate in a holding cell, at which time Perry spit on him.
The officers took Perry to a different cell, where the inmate said he was punched in the face by Franklin and that he was pushed into a steel door by Graham, and kneed and knocked to the floor. He suffered a broken jaw and bruised face in the assault.
The assault was captured on on a surveillance camera the officers did not know was installed in the cell, the Herald Bulletin reported.
A third correctional officer, 32-year-old Jonathan Reed, is still facing charges of official misconduct and false informing in the case.