By Jon Moss
syracuse.com
MARCY, N.Y. — New York state is set to pay more than half a million dollars to settle a lawsuit that said there was a “beat-up squad” of corrections officers at a state prison in Oneida County.
State officials agreed on Friday to pay $650,000 to inmate William Alvarez, days before a trial was set to begin in his lawsuit, according to Glenn Miller, one of his lawyers.
Alvarez said in the lawsuit filed in federal court in Utica that he was beaten by a group of guards who regularly assaulted inmates.
Several of the guards named in the lawsuit were criminally charged in the December 2024 death of inmate Robert L. Brooks at the same prison, the Marcy Correctional Facility.
The assault described by Alvarez was strikingly similar to how prosecutors said the fatal beat down of Brooks happened.
Thomas Mailey, a spokesperson for the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, said the department has worked to strengthen security and reduce violence.
In his lawsuit, Alvarez said he was handcuffed on the ground in September 2020 following an altercation with corrections officer Caleb Bause. While on the ground, he said, he was kicked in the head and body.
Sgt. Glenn Trombly and corrections officer Anthony Farina were among the guards there, Alvarez said. He said he couldn’t see who was kicking him, but none of the guards stopped the violence.
Alvarez suffered severe injuries, including facial fractures that left him with a permanent deformity, the lawsuit said.
Several years later, multiple corrections officers repeatedly punched and kicked Brooks in the groin, abdomen and face in the Marcy prison’s infirmary. He died hours later.
Thirteen corrections officers, including Trombly and Farina, faced charges.
Trombly pleaded guilty to second-degree gang assault. He was sentenced to four years.
Farina pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Alvarez was serving a three-year sentence for assault and was released from state prison on June 25, 2021, according to federal court records.
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