UTICA, NY — Ten of the prison guards indicted after a Black prison inmate was handcuffed and beaten to death in upstate New York have received offers from the special prosecutor that could potentially reduce their pending sentences.
The special prosecutor’s offers were disclosed during a pretrial conference in court on Monday. The prosecutor did not reveal what the offers entailed.
Six correctional officers were charged with murder after a grand jury indicted them last month in the death of 43-year-old Robert Brooks, who was serving a 12-year prison sentence at Marcy Correctional Facility after he was convicted of assault in 2017. The deadly beating was caught on body-worn cameras.
Three additional prison guards were charged with manslaughter. One was charged with evidence tampering.
Per the Associated Press, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said he communicated with federal prosecutors in connection with Brooks’ death about the offers made to the defendants and they were on the same accord.
The defendants are expected to appear in court in April to either accept or reject the prosecutor’s offers.
More on the Robert Brooks fatal beating and investigation.
