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March 21 (UPI) -- Joshua Hartfield, one of six former Mississippi law-enforcement officers convicted of torturing two Black men in January 2023, was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday afternoon. He was the last of the six defendants to be sentenced this week.
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Hartfield, a former Richland Police Department officer, was the only defendant who was not a member of the Rankin County Sheriff's Department. He pleaded guilty in August to state charges of conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and first-degree obstruction of justice.
Hartfield used a Taser on the two men -- Eddie Parker and Michael Jenkins -- while they were handcuffed, and he also tried to dispose of evidence in the case, prosecutors said.
"This a momentous day," Melvin Jenkins, the father of Michael Jenkins, said after Hartfield's sentencing.
While shackled around his waist and hands, Hartfield sobbed when he began to address the Parker and Jenkins families in court.
"All I wanted to do was help people. I failed to help the two people who needed me the most. Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker, I would like to apologize to you both," Hartfield said.
Also on Thursday, former Rankin County sheriff's deputy Brett McAlpin was sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Prosecutors said McAlpin was the leader they described as the "mafia don" of the cops who formed a self-styled "Goon Squad" known for its brutal interrogation tactics.
Police officer Hartfield was not a member of that group.
He pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy against rights, deprivation of rights under color of law, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and obstruction of justice.
McAlpin and the other former deputies burst into a home in Braxton without a warrant and for about 90 minutes assaulted and tortured Jenkins and Parker.
The torture included beating, tasering the victims, attempting to sexually assault them and shooting one of them in the mouth as they were held naked in handcuffs.
McAlpin apologized while addressing the court Thursday.
"Eddie Parker and Michael Jenkins, I want you to know I'm sorry for what you went through," McAlpin said.
McAlpin was the fourth-highest ranking member fo the Rankin County Sheriff's Department at the time of the incident.
He could have prevented the torture, but took charge telling the other deputies to cover up the crimes, prosecutors said.
"He ordered Dedmon to clean them up. He ordered Hartfield to get rid of their clothes. He directed Hartfield to get rid of surveillance video," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Perras. "He was the one who took Eddie Parker out of the room and [told him] to stick to the story. And Mr. Parker went along with it, not because he wanted to, but because McAlpin ran Rankin County and if he didn't, he would rot in jail."
Christian Dedmon was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Hunter Elward, who shot Jenkins in the mouth during the torture ordeal, got 20 years. Jeffrey Middleton received 17 and a half years. Daniel Opdyke was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison.
Jenkins and Parker have filed a $400 million lawsuit alleging unlawful imprisonment and torture.
