A fourth former Mississippi sheriff’s deputy has been sentenced for his part in the racist torture of two Black men by a group of white officers who called themselves “the Goon Squad”. Christian Dedmon was sentenced on Wednesday to 40 years in federal prison, hours after Daniel Opdyke was sentenced to 17.5 years.
Dedmon, 29, did not look at the victims as he apologized and said he would never forgive himself for the pain he caused.
All six of the white former officers charged in the torture pleaded guilty, admitting that they subjected Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker to numerous acts of racist torture in January 2023 after a neighbor complained that the men were staying in a home with a white woman.
Federal prosecutors detailed sexual assaults by Dedmon that made him stand out among the other officers charged.