North Carolina federal prison supervisor convicted after instructing physical punishment

[December 30, 2024]  BUTNER, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina federal prison supervisor has been convicted after investigators say he instructed a correctional officer to physically punish a man incarcerated at the institution by beating him.

Daniel Mitchell, a former Federal Bureau of Prisons lieutenant, pleaded guilty earlier this week to a felony charge of conspiring to violate civil rights, according to a U.S. Department of Justice statement.

“Corrections officers work in dangerous environments with limited resources and deserve our respect and gratitude,” U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley Jr. said in a statement. “But officers acting outside the law to injure an inmate erodes the rule of law, violates civil rights and puts other officers’ lives in jeopardy."

An attorney who represented Mitchell declined to comment Saturday.

The beating happened at the Federal Correctional Institute Butner Medium II in the special housing unit in Granville County, which Mitchell supervised, authorities said. The prison houses more than 1,600 people, according to its website.

A correctional officer reported to Mitchell on Dec. 8, 2021, that the incarcerated man had exposed himself and “engaged in a sexual act” in front of her while she was doing rounds in the unit, investigators said. Mitchell then began discussing with another correctional officer about how to punish the man.

Neither the man nor the two correctional officers were named by the U.S. Department of Justice or court documents from the case. The department did not indicate whether the conspiring officer also faced charges.

Normally, the prison's misconduct discipline process involves a writeup for violations. The writeup is then delivered to the person, which is referred to as “counseling,” according to court records.

Mitchell and the conspiring officer agreed traditional punishment methods wouldn't work for the man, investigators said. While giving instructions, Mitchell allegedly told the officer to “teach (the man) a lesson” and “tune” him up — phrasing they both understood as physical punishment, according to court documents. He also ordered the officer to “stay away from (the man's) face” while punishing him, authorities said.

The man was taken to another cell where the officer hit and kicked him until other correctional officers intervened, the department said. The man later had a medical emergency involving spasms after the beating aggravated his preexisting back condition, investigators said.

An eyewitness officer reported the beating, which prompted an investigation from the U.S. Justice Department’s Officer of Inspector General. Mitchell and the conspiring officer both admitted to investigators that they planned to physically punish the inmate as disciplinary action, authorities said.

Mitchell's sentencing hearing is scheduled for late March, where he faces up to 10 years in prison.

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