By Anne Hayes
syracuse.com
UTICA, N.Y. ― A former prison guard from Mid-State Correctional Facility has been sentenced for planting evidence after the death of an inmate.
Messiah Nantwi, 22, was beaten to death inside the Marcy prison on March 1. Officers used fists, batons and boots to strike Nantwi after they said he was acting up during a count of inmates, prosecutors have said.
He was found with no signs of life 45 minutes after officers went into his cell. None of the corrections officers were wearing body-worn cameras.
David Ferrone previously pleaded guilty to planting a knife in Nantwi’s cell to justify the use of force as part of a larger cover-up.
On Friday, Ferrone was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge in exchange for his plea to tampering with physical evidence, prosecutor Alphonse Williams said. If Ferrone stays out of trouble for a year, he will avoid any prison time.
A security camera in the infirmary bathroom captured Ferrone discussing the plan to plant the weapon, prosecutors said.
Williams said that prosecutors expect Ferrone will cooperate and potentially testify against his fellow former officers but said there is no written agreement.
Another officer, Joshua Barlett , has agreed to testify against his fellow officers. He pleaded guilty to felony hindering prosecution and falsifying business records in exchange for two years in prison. He also admitted to participating in the cover-up.
Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick has said a group of officers met at a local diner after Nantwi’s death to agree on a false story. Fitzpatrick is a special prosecutor handling the case.
Ten officers were indicted for their roles in the death or the cover-up. Six others avoided the indictment by agreeing to cooperate, Fitzpatrick said. Ferrone was indicted; Barlett was not.
The other guards
Here is what happened to the nine corrections officers indicted in connection with Nantwi’s death.
- Jonah Levi: He is charged with 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. He is scheduled for trial in March.
- Caleb Blair: He is charged with 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. He is scheduled for trial in May.
- Sgt. Francis Chandler Jr .: He was charged with second-degree gang assault, second-degree manslaughter, two counts of fifth-degree conspiracy, first-degree offering of a false instrument and tampering with evidence. He pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in exchange for four years in prison.
- Thomas Eck: He is charged with first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, two counts of fifth-degree conspiracy, first-degree offering of a false instrument and tampering with evidence. He is scheduled to go to trial in June.
- Craig Klemick: He is charged with first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, fifth-degree conspiracy and first-degree offering of a false instrument. He is scheduled for trial in May.
- Daniel Burger: He was charged with first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, fifth-degree conspiracy and first-degree offering of a false instrument. He pleaded guilty to offering a false instrument. He was sentenced to 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison.
- Nicholas Vitale: He pleaded guilty to first-degree offering of a false instrument and was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge.
- Sgt. Michael Iffert: He is charged with first-degree offering of a false instrument. He is scheduled for trial in May.
- Sgt. Donald Slawson: He pleaded guilty to tampering with physical evidence and was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge.
Fitzpatrick has said that the officers who beat Nantwi intentionally made sure the incident would not be captured on body-worn camera. Officers are required to have body cameras recording when in the “presence” of an inmate.
Nantwi is last seen on video at about 11 a.m. on March 1 when an officer is leaving his cell, Fitzpatrick said. Shortly after, a group of eight officers in the Correctional Emergency Response Team is called in to assist.
Nantwi was moved to the infirmary after he became unresponsive, Fitzpatrick said. He was beaten again as the officers carried him downstairs and into the infirmary, prosecutors said.
The fatal beating of Nantwi followed the death of Robert Brooks, an inmate at nearby Marcy Correctional Facility , who was beaten to death by guards on Dec. 9, 2024 .
A group of officers repeatedly punched and kicked Brooks in the groin, abdomen, neck and face in the prison’s infirmary.
The brutal beating — which prosecutors said was the final of three beatings to Brooks — was recorded on video by body cameras worn by four officers. None had turned on their camera, but 30 minutes of video was passively recorded without audio.
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