A former correctional officer from the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy in which he and other correctional officers used unreasonable and unjustified force against inmates, including pretrial detainees, as a form of punishment and retaliation. Michael Pack, 40, pleaded guilty on March 30 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Omar J. Aboulhosn to one count of violating 18 U.S.C. § 371.
“Michael Pack conspired with other correctional officers to illegally assault and punish inmates in his custody,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “While we recognize that the great majority of law enforcement officers discharge their duties with integrity, this defendant abused his authority and has received an appropriate measure of accountability.”
According to court records, Pack admitted that he and his co-conspirators would strike, assault, and harm inmates they believed or perceived to have engaged in misconduct. As part of this conspiracy, Pack and his co-conspirators would bring inmates to known “blind spots” – areas of the jail that were not captured on surveillance cameras – so that they could use unreasonable and unjustified force against the inmates without being recorded and thus avoid being held accountable for their actions.
Specifically, Pack admitted that he and his co-conspirators repeatedly struck a pretrial detainee, and sprayed him with OC spray to punish him for kicking his cell door. Pack admitted that on another occasion he and his co-conspirators brought another pretrial detainee to an interview room not captured on surveillance cameras. While handcuffed and not a threat, Pack’s co-conspirators struck and assaulted the second detainee using unreasonable and unjustified force against the detainee Pack did not intervene during the assault despite having an opportunity to do so.
Pack further admitted that, as part of the conspiracy, he and his co-conspirators would prepare false reports denying their unreasonable uses of force against inmates and failing to document injuries that inmates sustained during use of force incidents, so that the conspirators would not be investigated or held accountable for their actions.
Specifically, Pack admitted that he was present when his co-conspirators used force against a pretrial detainee in a blind spot interview room. Pack wrote a false report omitting that he and his co-conspirators brought the detainee to the blind spot interview room. Pack also falsely reported that the detainee did not sustain injuries from the incident, despite being present after the assault when the detainee was escorted from the interview room while handcuffed and bleeding from the head.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Moore Capito for the Southern District of West Virginia made the announcement.
The FBI Pittsburgh Field Office, Charleston Resident Agency, investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Tenette Smith, former Deputy Chief Christine M. Siscaretti, and former Trial Attorney Sam Kuhn of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division prosecuted the case in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.