By Finn Lincoln
syracuse.com
UTICA, N.Y. — A judge Wednesday sentenced a former New York state corrections officer to 25 years in state prison for the beating death of an inmate last year.
Jonah Levi, who was a guard at the Mid-State Correctional Facility in Oneida County, was one of several guards who hit Messiah Nantwi with their fists, batons and boots 69 times, including 15 blows to his head, according to courtroom testimony.
Levi stomped on the inmate’s head several times, prosecutors said. The 22-year-old inmate later died at a local hospital.
Levi was the only guard to go to trial; others pleaded guilty in plea deals.
Judge Michael Nolan, during the sentencing for manslaughter and other crimes, disputed claims by Levi’s lawyer that there wasn’t evidence of the guard’s involvement in the inmate’s death on March 1, 2025.
“I think the real you was shown to me in the body-worn camera” Nolan told Levi. “You were fist-bumping other officers, laughing and joking while Mr. Nantwi lay on the floor, dying in the infirmary because of the things you and those other officers did.”
Nolan compared Levi’s actions to the thousands of other corrections officers while sentencing Levi. “They made a decision to uphold their oath. You, sir, did not,” he said.
Levi, 40, who wore an orange jumpsuit, handcuffs and a bullet-proof vest, spoke briefly at the sentencing, expressing remorse at the death and his involvement.
“I apologize to the court, and I apologize to the victim’s family,” he said.
After the sentencing, many of Levi’s supporters flooded into the hall, many in tears, some with their head in hands.
Defense attorney Graeme Spicer had argued for the minimum sentence for Levi, claiming there wasn’t enough evidence against Levi and that other guards had received shorter sentences.
Spicer also argued that Levi was a pillar of his community. He is a school board member, youth coach, father and husband, he said.
Levi was found guilty on April 1 of first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, fifth-degree conspiracy and first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing.
He was found not guilty on the top charge of second-degree murder.
Levi received the maximum sentence for all charges, which will run concurrently. The top charge for manslaughter carries a 25-year sentence in state prison plus five years of post-release supervision.
Justice was served in this case, said Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, who was a special prosecutor in the case after the sentencing. He said he was proud of his team for the series of convictions they had secured in the case.
Thirteen other guards involved with the death and subsequent attempted cover-up all accepted plea deals for lesser sentences in the case, three of them earlier this month. Some even testified against Levi.
Fitzpatrick described Levi as an active participant in the killing, and “probably the person who caused his death.”
During sentencing, Fitzpatrick pointed out Levi’s history of violence, citing his disciplinary record.
Levi had previously accrued 22 use of force complaints, with 20 being unsubstantiated, Fitzpatrick said. Two substantiated claims included punching a handcuffed inmate multiple times in the head and assaulting another corrections officer whom he had a physical relationship with.
Fitzpatrick asked for the maximum of 25 years, saying the discipline was “earned by stomping on the head of a helpless individual multiple times.”
Michael Moon, Nantwi’s cellmate, gave the only victim impact statement at the sentencing.
Spicer tried to block Moon from giving a statement, questioning his truthfulness at trial and arguing the inmate had no direct relationship to Nantwi. The judge rejected the objection and allowed Moon to speak.
“Seeing my friend getting killed in front of me really affected me a lot,” Moon said. “I just hope no matter what, you realize how much people you hurt, because you not only took away my friend, you took away someone that I could have been friends with for a long time, a son, an uncle.”
The conflict started when National Guard personnel helping staff the prison tried to persuade Nantwi to return to his prison dormitory room, but he refused, a Guardsman testified.
The guard called for help, but Nantwi eventually calmed down, he testified.
A minute after that, the Correctional Emergency Response Team arrived. Levi was one of the responders.
Nantwi refused to be handcuffed and attacked some of the guards in the room, officer Nathan Palmer testified.
Palmer said he then saw Levi “stomp” Nantwi in the head five or six times.
Nantwi’s roommate, Michael Moon, testified that Levi kicked Nantwi “like he was a football” into a nearby locker.
“I think a reasonable person might think a person of Mr. Levi’s size taking his boot and stomping it on another human being’s head might very well be trying to cause serious physical injury,” Fitzpatrick said during the trial.
Nantwi was taken from his room and beaten again, prosecutors said. He was then taken to the prison infirmary where he was assaulted again.
Portions of the conflict were captured on body camera footage, but large portions were not in an intentional effort made by the guards, according to prosecutors.
An ambulance was later called for Nantwi. He had no pulse when transported, a paramedic who treated him testified. He was later pronounced dead at Wynn Hospital in Utica .
The officers then took various actions to cover up what happened, Fitzpatrick said. This included a large meeting at a diner to “coordinate” the narrative that nothing improper was done to Nantwi.
False incident reports were filed, prosecutors said, and a weapon was planted on Nantwi.
Nantwi’s blood was later found on one of Levi’s boots, prosecutors said. They could not say how it got there.
Nantwi’s death came after another beating death and attempted cover-up of an inmate, Robert Brooks, at the Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida in December 2024 .
The pattern has caused Fitzpatrick to call for the creation of specialized manslaughter and assault charges that prison guards and local jailers could face for failing to stop co-workers from assaulting inmates.
Fitzpatrick said he hopes the harsh sentence for Levi can help act as a deterrent from allowing a similar situation to occur in the future.
Charges, pleas and sentences in the Nantwi case, other than Levi:
- Nicholas Vitale: He pleaded guilty to first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing. He was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge. He was indicted on fifth-degree conspiracy and first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing.
- Daniel Burger: He pleaded guilty to first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing. He was sentenced to 1 1/3 to 4 years in state prison. He was indicted on first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, fifth-degree conspiracy and first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing.
- Sgt. Donald Slawson: He pleaded guilty to attempted tampering with physical evidence. He was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge. He was indicted on tampering with physical evidence.
- Sgt. David Ferrone: He pleaded guilty to tampering with physical evidence. He was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge. He was indicted on second-degree manslaughter, first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing, tampering with physical evidence and two counts of fifth-degree conspiracy.
- Sgt. Francis Chandler Jr .: He pleaded guilty to second-degree gang assault in exchange for a four-year sentence in state prison. He was indicted on second-degree gang assault, second-degree manslaughter, fifth-degree conspiracy, first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing, tampering with physical evidence and two counts of fifth-degree conspiracy.
- Adam Joseph: He pleaded guilty as charged to official misconduct. He was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge.
- Frank Jacobs: He pleaded guilty as charged to official misconduct. He was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge.
- Sgt. Michael Iffert: He pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing. He was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge. He was indicted on first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing.
- Nathan Palmer: He pleaded guilty as charged to hindering prosecution and falsifying business records. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 15 .
- Joshua Bartlett: He pleaded guilty as charged to hindering prosecution and falsifying business records. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 8 . He also faces unrelated sexual abuse charges.
- Caleb Blair: He pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter. He was promised a sentence of 11 years. He was indicted on second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, fifth-degree conspiracy and first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 17 .
- Craig Klemick: He pleaded guilty to first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing. He was promised a sentence of 9 months. He was indicted on first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, fifth-degree conspiracy and first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 17 .
- Thomas Eck: He pleaded guilty to first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing. He was indicted on first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing, tampering with physical evidence and two counts of fifth-degree conspiracy. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 7.
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