By Bill Rankin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
FULTON, Ga. — Two former Fulton County jailers received prison terms Thursday for obstructing an FBI investigation into how a mentally unstable inmate died in custody two years ago. A third ex-jailer, who initially lied and then came forward and told the truth, received home confinement and probation.
Senior U.S. District J. Owen Forrester imposed the sentences after the deceased inmate’s sister asked for justice on behalf of her brother.
On March 18, 2008, Richard Glasco, who was biploar, was being held at the jail on a disorderly conduct charge. The 42-year-old father of five had been banging on his cell door and yelling for hours, jailers said.
Jailers Curtis Jerome Brown, Mitnee Markette Jones and Derontay Anton Langford then entered Glasco’s cell. An inmate from across the hall testified at trial he heard a physical altercation, a scream from Glasco and then silence.
Glasco was found unresponsive and soon pronounced dead. His heart stopped beating because of “an acute psychotic episode and agitation,” his autopsy said.
The jailers immediately began a cover-up. They cleaned Glasco’s cell, fabricated reports and then lied to FBI agents and the grand jury, Assistant U.S. Attorney Angela Jordan said.
Because of the lies and obstruction, “we’ll never have the opportunity to tell the family what happened the last moments of Richard Glasco’s life,” Jordan said.
Yolanda Glasco, wiping away tears, said her brother’s death devastated her family.
“They don’t have a father,” she said of his three daughters and two sons. “I don’t have a brother. A part of me died when he died. I just want justice for my brother. He’s gone and I want it to mean something.”
Forrester imposed the harshest sentence on Brown, 42, of Lithonia. He sent him to prison for 27 months, the maximum under the recommended guidelines.
Forrester called Brown a “bull,” a jailer who sees himself as the enforcer and doesn’t mind inserting himself into difficult situations.
The judge sentenced Jones, 47, of Atlanta, to 15 months in prison after hearing an emotional plea for mercy from her 19-year-old son.
Reluctantly, Forrester followed prosecutors’ recommendations and sentenced Langford, 35, of Atlanta, to three years on probation. Jordan said Langford finally told FBI agents the truth after lying to the grand jury, but Forrester said he was not satisfied Langford disclosed all he knew. He ordered Langford to spend the first four months of his probation in home confinement.
“If they had told the truth, they probably wouldn’t be here,” Forrester said. “But they didn’t. They lied.”
Copyright 2010 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution