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 Former deputy Jason Kenny was sentenced to one month in jail, with
time to be served at weekends, on a conviction of cruelty to an
inmate, along with three years probation, court officials said.
Former deputy Maxine Evans was sentenced to six years probation on
public records fraud and three counts of perjury for providing false
grand jury testimony.
Both were found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter last month in
the death of Matthew Ajibade, 21, who a coroner said died of blunt
force trauma in what he ruled was a homicide.
A former nurse, Greg Brown, was also found guilty of making a false
statement and was given a three-year suspended sentence, court
officials said.
Ajibade, an artist and a computer science student, was tasered
multiple times while strapped in a restraint chair, according to
court testimony.
Jail house security video of the event showed him screaming, clothed
only in his underwear and tased in his groin area.
Ajibade’s cousin Chris Oladapo, on behalf of the family, provided a
written victim’s statement, according to the family’s Florida-based
Mark O’Mara.
“Whatever sentence is handed down here today makes no difference,”
Oladapo wrote. “These three people are just pawns, and those in
leadership most culpable will be left unpunished."
Nine deputies were fired in the aftermath of Ajibade’s death.
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In a separate civil lawsuit, Ajibade’s family alleges he was having
a manic episode caused by bipolar disorder, causing his girlfriend
to call police for help.
The suit claimed that she explained the situation to officers, but
instead of taking him to the hospital they arrested him.
The police report said that deputies responded to a domestic
violence call and Ajibade was arrested on those charges, as well as
battery and resisting arrest.
A deputy suffered a broken nose in the altercation, officials said.
Ajibade was put in restraints after fighting with officers and was
later found unresponsive in his jail cell, officials said.
(Editing by David Adams and Alan Crosby)
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