The Justice Department announced today that Scottie T. Glenn, a former correctional officer at Ventress Prison in Alabama, pleaded guilty in federal court to civil rights and conspiracy charges arising from the beating death of inmate Rocrast Mack.
Mr. Mack was serving a sentence for a non-violent drug crime when he was beaten to death by correctional officers at Ventress on August 4, 2010. He was 24 years old. Several officers were fired but no criminal charges were filed.
On August 8, 2011, EJI called on the Alabama Attorney General and the Justice Department to immediately pursue criminal prosecution [1] of the correctional officers who brutally beat Mr. Mack to death. On October 18, 2011, the Alabama Attorney General announced that former correctional lieutenant Michael Anthony Smith was arrested for the murder Mr. Mack. [2]
The Dothan office of the FBI opened a federal investigation into Mr. Mack's murder, which led to Mr. Glenn's guilty plea. He admitted in court today that he escorted Mr. Mack in handcuffs to an office at the prison, knowing that he would be beaten by correctional officers. After Mr. Mack was beaten to death by prison guards, Glenn and other officers, at the direction of another officer, lied in written reports and lied to investigators to cover up the killing.
Mr. Glenn pleaded guilty to one count of violating Mr. Mack's civil rights and one count of conspiring with other corrections officers to cover up the killing. The civil rights charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison.
EJI is seeking broad reforms in Alabama's prisons that reduce incidents of guard on inmate assaults which EJI reports is widespread.