U.S. District Judge Thomas Lee sentenced Jeffrey Middleton to serve 210 months in federal prison in the Goon Squad case today.
Rankin County Deputies Brett McAlpin, Hunter Elward, Jeffrey Middleton, Daniel Opdyke, Christian Dedmon, and Richland Police officer Joshua Hartfield raided the Braxton residence of Michael Corey Jenkins on January 24, 2023. Jenkins' friend Eddie Parker was present during the no-knock raid.
The law enforcement officers handcuffed the two men, called them n*****s, monkeys, and other names. They tried to rape them with a dildo, threw eggs at them, waterboarded them with milk, beat them, and engaged in a brutal tasing contest. Guns were fired at them. One deputy shot a gun while it was inside the mouth of Michael Jenkins, severing part of his tongue. The two victims were forced to shower naked together.
The deputies called themselves the Goon Squad and had their own challenge coins and patches. The deputies cleaned up the crime scene, planted a BB gun on the scene (that was elsewhere in the home), and arrested Jenkins and Parker. Jenkins' mother was not allowed to see her son while he was in the hospital as he was in custody.
The Justice Department charged Middleton with three counts of deprivation of civil rights under color of law, conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy against rights in August 2023.
Attorney Carlos Tanner represented Middleton. Tanner sparred with Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Chalk and the probation officer over the presentencing report for nearly two hours.
The probation officer recommended the maximum sentence for Middleton. Tanner objecting, arguing his client qualified for a minimal or minor involvement classification. Such a determination would reduce Middleton's sentence.
Tanner recited every fact of the crimes that took place on January 24 and tallied up who was responsible for each act against Jenkins and Parker that night. He made a big deal out of the fact that Middleton participated in few acts of violence against the two victims.
However, the probation officer and prosecution pointed out Middleton was a Lieutenant in the Rankin County Sheriff's Department and had the rank to order a halt to it all that night. Middleton offered to plant a .38 revolver on the scene. He threatened to kill other deputies present if they snitched. He attacked one of the victims with a sword. Middleton recovered spent cartrigdges.
Chalk said Middleton created the Goon Squad coins. He said the first idea was to have a confederate flag on one side of the coin and a noose on the other side before settling on this coin. Tanner argued the Goon Squad referred to the entire night shift, not a particular unit. The black members of the audience groaned loudly when Tanner made this argument.
Chalk said Middleton couldn't have it both ways. He participated in a text message string (yes, they were dumb enough to plan this through text messages). The defendant was present for the entire duration of the incident and since he had rank, he could have intervened instead of covering it up.
Judge Lee stopped the whole discussion by stating the minimal classification only applies if the defendant has "peripheral" involvement in the crime, which could not be argued in the case at hand.
Attorney Malik Shabazz read the victims' impact statement submitted by Jenkins and Parker as they flanked him:
I’m offended that Jeffrey Middleton is not apologetic and is trying to make light of his role in these serious crimes. Jeffrey Middleton attacked me with a sword and did not aid me or come to rescue me from the torture that was committed against me. Jeffrey Middleton is not sorry for what he did. If he was successful, Michael Jenkins would be facing 30 yer prison sentence for the weapons Middleton tried to plant on him. Second, Jeffrey Middleton threatened to kill anyone who told. All of this is serious. What makes Middleton's actions bad or even worse, the very bad actions of the Rankin County Good Squad officers will leave a scar that will last on me forever. .. I don’t know if I will ever sleep again at night. I fear I will be attacked gain or killed by police in Rankin.My family is also affected by this and they worry about my safety..... I am terrified of the public and my mind is messed up. My emotions are all over the map.Jeffrey Middleton kicked me and tased me repeatedly. Jeffrey Middleton is the leader of the Rankin County Goon Squad. He must be held accountable for his leadership role. Jeffrey Middleton tried to plant a throwdown gun on me, which he kept in case they had to blame me or another Goon Squad victim at any time . This means Middleton frames people in the course of his duties.
Middleton took his turn to plea for mercy as Elward did earlier that day. While Elward stood up like a man, faced the victims, and apologized to their faces, Middleton kept his eyes on Judge Lee as not once did he look towards those he terrorized. Middleton said:
Your honor I just want to begin, I fully accept my actions in this case. Everything I did, I take responsibility forr that, and everything I did not do, I take responsibility. For that, I made some very poor life-changing decisions that night. They were morally wrong and they have affected numreious innocent people, notabley Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker. The events on January 24 should have never happened and I should have never been there. I want to apologize to you, your honor, I want to apologize to the prosecutors and my attorney for having to defend such a heinous case, I want to apologize to the Rankin County Sheriff's Office and the citizens of Rankin County, I want to apologize to my family for embarrassing them , Most of all I do want to apologize to Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker. I’m so sorry this ever happened. I know how much this has affected me and my family. And I can’t imagine how this has affected Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker and their family. I had a duty to protect Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker and I failed both of them that night. Their lives may never be the same and I’m partto blame for that. I failed my wife, my children, but for that, there will be no father, no husband in the house for years to come. Their lives willi never be the same for something I did, for decisions I made..... I failed Jesus Christ because my actions dod not reflect those of a Christian. I have failed every Law Enforcement Officer in the United States....
I have ruined 17 years of a career in law enforcement. I fully accept responsibility for the actions I took or failed to take. They are no one's fault but my own.
The guilty plea by Jeffrey Middleton has been removed from his record. In March 2007, Middleton, then 29, pleaded guilty to culpable negligent vehicular man-slaughter in the death of 23-year-old Desmonde Harris of Jackson....
When Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter took Middleton's plea, he placed him on two years' probation and withheld adjudication of the case.
Withholding adjudication meant that if Middleton stayed out of trouble while on probation, the judge could, in effect, undo his guilty plea.
Earlier this month, Hinds County Circuit Judge L. Breland Hilburn, who has assumed DeLaughter's criminal docket, signed an order that Middleton had successfully completed probation and dismissed the charge.
15 comments:
Goon 3: Next
Dedmon gonna get the brunt of this , especially with the new info on the white guy on the side of the interstate.
@6:15 - while your theory may be appropriate, it is not applicable. Two separate cases. The second one not before the court at this time.
Yes, he might get another sentence at a later date, your theory of 'justice' is about like the orange-head's, that has nothing to do with law.
Yes - Dedmond needs to get the brunt - of BOTH. Once here, again later. And probably several other times we dont know about.
And, once he is in the popo, for any or all these accounts, he might enjoy his deep interests in anatomy - his and others - to finally be sated. Hope he gets plenty of opportunities to measure other's flapped in his face to see how deep they may go. Yes, he will try to be the 'big boy' on the floor, but bet he won't win in the long run; there are others who, once his 'roids' are worn off will be able to convince him that their's flapping in his face will be the 'big boy on the c'block'.
Hope he enjoys his time on the cell floor; he's had plenty of time on I-20 to exchange.
Yes, 6:15, Dedmond 'gonna get' the brunt of this --- but it has nothing to do with the other 'white guy' on the interstate.
That is, for your limited brain, another totally, separate, and different, case. Just if you are too ignorant to understand, that time that Decmond waved his thing around and offered it up, has NOTHING to do with the sentencing of these Goons.
Yes - I am almost sure that those facts will surely come up in a later charged case against Demond (and I'm sure others) but they have nothing to do with why his sorry ass is before the bench today.
Opdyke left his previous job (at a car wash because that is apparently the qualifications needed to be a cop) and told his co-workers it was because he wanted to “f&$k up some n******s” so no….. Middleton didn’t make him that way.
Is the Rankin County Sheriff at the federal courthouse this week?
7:52
If he was innocent and cared about his good deputies he would and he d make an honest statement about it . Unfortunately for the citizens of Rankin he is neither!
Sheriff next!
is Bailey at the courthouse this week? Shitttttttt. I bet you can't find him anywhere this week.
I think he was just sorry for getting caught and embarrassing himself ... glad he's off the streets now.
As I have said before, either Bailey condoned the goon squad and should be prosecuted, or he didn't know, which means he's too damn stupid to be our Sheriff. Also, if you live in Rankin Co and you voted to re-elect Bailey, you should know that the rest of Rankin Co, as well as the State and the Country, know what an idiot you have been. Open your eyes. Do better. We would be better off if we had drawn a random name from the voter rolls and appointed that person sheriff.
Two questions....
Can the convicted possibly get a sentence reduction by testifying on other possible misconduct by their department?
Will a Hollywood movie eventually come out of this?
Bryan Bailey, Dean Scott, Wes Shivers, and Green all need to be next won’t be justice until then
Add in the Sheriffs illegal activities and you got yourself a blockbuster!
But he will still have his retirement.
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