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A federal jury
deliberated for an hour and a half before returning the verdict
late on Thursday against William Howell, a former deputy jailer
at Kentucky River Regional Jail in the town of Hazard, the U.S.
Department of Justice said in a statement.
The panel found Howell guilty of excessive force and of ignoring
the inmate's injuries and he faces a maximum sentence of 10
years in prison for each criminal count when he is sentenced on
Aug. 16 at a federal court in London, Kentucky.
Howell, 60, and another guard beat inmate Larry Trent, 54, on
July 9, 2013, after he was booked on a charge of drunken
driving.
It started when the two guards opened Trent's cell door to
remove a sleeping mat. Trent ran out and the jailers punched,
kicked and stomped on Trent before taking him back to his cell,
where Howell kicked Trent in the head while he lay on the
ground, the Department of Justice statement said.
An autopsy found Trent died of a fracture to his pelvis that
caused hemorrhaging and from blunt force trauma to his head,
chest and limbs.
Damon Hickman, the other guard, pleaded guilty last year to
depriving Trent of his legal rights and falsifying records for
his role in the beating, according to court records. He has not
yet been sentenced for those convictions.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Lisa
Shumaker)
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