Former Ky. prison guard sentenced to 7 years in prison for failing to stop inmate assault

By Bill Estep
Leader of the Lexington Herald

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A former Kentucky prison guard who failed to stop guards from beating a prisoner and then lied to investigators has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison.

Eric Nantell, 48 years old, was a sergeant at Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex in Morgan County in July 2018, when three guards punched and kicked a prisoner in the shower, according to court documents.

The man had swallowed drugs before the incident to prevent guards from confiscating them.

He was handcuffed and leg shackled during the attack and did not fight with the officers, according to court records.

Nantell did not participate in the assault but stood nearby. He witnessed the assault, did nothing to stop it, then walked away while other officers continued to beat the victim, federal authorities charged.

A jury found Nantell guilty on one count of depriving the inmate of the right not to use excessive force. two charges of misleading investigators by the Kentucky State Correctional System and Police; and one count of lying to an FBI agent.

Nantell’s attorney, Eldred E. “Bud” Adams Jr., argued for a lower sentence for Nantell, writing in a sentencing memorandum that Nantell had a good record as an officer and had been punished by being found guilty and losing his livelihood.

Adams said it was unrealistic that Nantell could have interrupted the assault and that trying to do so could have put him in danger.

“The odds of three to one are not very good,” Adams wrote, referring to the fact that three guards had hit the man.

But the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary D. Dembo, said in a sentencing memo that Nantell was the highest-ranking officer at the scene and that other officers looked to him for help. advices.

An officer who participated in the assault said that if Nantell “had said anything indicating that he thought the assault was unacceptable, the beating would have stopped immediately,” Dembo wrote.

“Although the evidence shows that the defendant did not personally harm the victim, he is responsible for each blow after he recognized that a violent prison beating was taking place right in front of him and chose not to arrest him,” the prosecutor said.

Corrections officers like Nantell, who allow abuse of incarcerated people, create distrust in the justice system, making the job harder and more dangerous for officers who follow the rules, Dembo said.

The prosecutor also said Nantell had multiple opportunities to tell investigators the truth, but urged other prison staff to “stick to the story” they made up to cover up the assault , and called the one who told the truth a rat.

U.S. District Judge David Bunning sentenced Nantell Monday in federal court in Ashland.

Adams said Nantell plans to appeal his conviction.

Nantell was one of seven former prison employees charged in the case. The other six pleaded guilty without going to trial.

The three officers who took part in the assault were Randall Dennis, James Benish and Jeffery Havens.

Bunning sentenced Dennis to five years in prison; Benish at 27 months; and Havens at 15 months.

Randy Nickell, Nathan Cantrell and Derek Mays were in the hallway outside the shower and were accused of covering up the crime.

Bunning sentenced each of them to one month in prison, as well as five months of home incarceration for Nickell and Cantrell.

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