Goon Squad Officer gets 40 years in prison for ‘shocking, brutal’ acts

A former sheriff’s deputy who subjected Mississippi residents to physical and sexual violence was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years in prison.

The officer, Christian Dedmon, was associated with a group of law enforcement officers who terrorized Rankin County and called themselves the “Goon Squad.”

During the hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Tom Lee said that while Mr. Dedmon was not the highest-ranking officer to face prison time, his actions were “the most shocking, brutal and cruel acts imaginable.”

Daniel Opdyke, a member of the squad, was also convicted on Wednesday. Mr Opdyke was jailed for almost 18 years. His lawyers said he played a lesser role in the abuse.

Earlier this week, two other group members, Hunter Elward and Jeffrey Middleton, were sentenced to 20 and almost 18 years. Mr. Elward had shot one of the victims in the mouth; Mr. Middleton was a lieutenant who oversaw the group.

Two more team members are expected to be sentenced on Thursday. All six pleaded guilty to state and federal charges last year.

A Justice Department investigation found that the former officers, most of whom worked for the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office, beat and tortured two black men during a warrantless raid on their home last year.

The deputies showed up after the department’s former chief investigator, Brett McAlpin, received a tip that Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker were involved in suspicious activity. The officers burst in, shocked Mr Jenkins and Mr Parker with Tasers and assaulted them with a sex toy, the investigation heard.

Mr. Dedmon, 28, played a prominent role in the attack, prosecutors said. He hit Mr Jenkins and Mr Parker with the sex toy, tried to put it in their mouths and threatened to rape them.

According to an interview with Mr. Schmidt and statements from prosecutors, Mr. Dedmon also beat and sexually assaulted a white man, Alan Schmidt, during a traffic stop in December 2022. Mr. Schmidt told The New York Times and Mississippi Today that Mr. Dedmon threatened killing him and dumping his body in the Pearl River as Mr Opdyke and Mr Elward looked on.

During that incident, Mr. Dedmon fired his gun in the air, then struck Mr. Schmidt and shocked him with a Taser, Mr. Schmidt recalled. He also pressed his genitals against Mr. Schmidt’s mouth and bare buttocks while Mr. Schmidt was handcuffed.

“I pray to God that the souls of these officers are healed of the evil within that led them to commit these acts,” Mr. Schmidt wrote in a victim impact statement read by prosecutors on Wednesday. “I know I’m not their only victim.”

In court, Mr. Dedmon denied sexually assaulting Mr. Schmidt but apologized for his behavior. “Instead of doing the right thing, I chose to show off,” he said. “If I could take it all back, I promise I would.”

There was a culture of misconduct at the sheriff’s office, Mr. Dedmon said, and he rose to become the department’s youngest investigator because of his willingness to “do bad things.”

Prosecutors told the judge that according to a memorandum about their investigation that is still under wraps, Mr. Dedmon had been involved in other similar events.

Mr Opdyke’s lawyers had asked the judge to sentence their client to seven years in prison, ten years less than the maximum.

They argued that 27-year-old Mr. Opdyke deserved leniency because he was the youngest and least experienced deputy in the Goon Squad and committed the fewest assaults in both cases. They also said Mr Opdyke, who was neglected and abused as a child, saw the group’s leader, Mr McAlpin, as a father figure and followed him “right or wrong, without question”.

“It wasn’t until he was indoctrinated into the Goon Squad cult that he briefly became a person no one recognized,” said Jeffery Reynolds, one of Mr. Opdyke’s lawyers.

Mr Opdyke accepted responsibility for his actions and read out an apology. “I swore to protect you,” he said, looking at Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker. “But when it came to action, I was a coward, and I didn’t succeed.”

As he spoke, Mr. Parker walked out of the courtroom. “That apology was just because he got caught,” Mr. Parker later said.

Local activists said they hoped the sentences were the start of a long process that would hold law enforcement accountable for decades of abuse. They renewed their calls for criminal charges against Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey.

“The only missing defendant is Bryan Bailey,” Malik Shabazz, a lawyer representing Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker, said. “The sheriff has created this culture and climate.”

Mr Bailey, who has not attended any of the hearings so far this week, did not respond to requests for comment.

An investigation by Mississippi Today and The New York Times last year exposed a decades-long reign of terror by nearly two dozen Rankin County deputies.

More than two dozen people said they were tortured during warrantless raids and violent interrogations by officers, most of whom have not yet been charged with a crime and some of whom still work for the sheriff.

Justice Department representatives have so far declined to say whether federal prosecutors will pursue additional charges related to abuse by Rankin County deputies.

The Rankin County Prosecutor’s Office recently confirmed that this is the case assessing and dismissing criminal cases involving Goon Squad members. District Attorney Bubba Bramlett has so far declined to share which cases have been dismissed or how far back in time his review will go.

Last week, the Mississippi House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed it an invoice that would increase oversight of the state’s law enforcement, allowing the state board that certifies officers to investigate and revoke the licenses of officers accused of misconduct, regardless of whether they face criminal charges.

The Senate is expected to vote on the bill in the coming weeks.