Benjamin Ashford|Former Alabama correctional officer convicted in 2018 inmate beating

MONTGOMERY,Benjamin Ashford Ala. (AP) — A jury on Thursday convicted a former Alabama prison sergeant of federal charges in connection with the 2018 beating of an inmate.

Devlon Williams, 37, a former sergeant with the Alabama Department of Corrections, was convicted of deprivation of rights under color of law, falsification of records and obstruction of justice, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

Prosecutors said Williams repeatedly punched and kicked an inmate at Staton Correctional Facility who was on the ground and not resisting or posing a threat. Williams also hit the inmate multiple times with a collapsible baton, prosecutors said.

“This defendant is being held accountable for using excessive force against an inmate and preparing a false report to cover-up his unlawful behavior,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

“Prisoners, like everyone else, have the right to be free from such needless and extreme violence,” Clarke said in a news release.

The Department of Justice has an ongoing civil lawsuit against Alabama, contending state inmates face unconstitutional levels of violence from inmate-on-inmate attacks and a pattern of excessive force by officers. The state has disputed the allegations.