Marcy, N.Y. — Two state corrections officers put on leave after the death of an inmate this month were involved in an infamous beatdown of inmates at the same facility nine years ago.
In 2016, dozens of Mid-State corrections officers brutally jumped on, kicked and sodomized inmates. Judge Anthony Brindisi ruled late last year that the state owes monetary damages to the inmates, but the amount has yet to be determined.
Related article: How a ‘blue wall of silence’ let Central NY prison guards get away with day of terror
Two of those employees — corrections officer Adam Joseph and Sgt. Donald Slawson — are now among the 15 state prison employees under investigation following the March 1 death of inmate Messiah Nantwi at Mid-State.
Three of the employees have been suspended without pay, Thomas Mailey, a spokesperson for the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, said Wednesday. They are Sgt. Francis Chandler and corrections officers Joshua Bartlett and Zachary Lallier.
The other 12 employees have been placed on paid administrative leave, Mailey said. They are:
- Corrections officers Joseph, Frank Jacobs, Jonah Levi, Nathan Palmer, Caleb Blair, Daniel Burger, Craig Klemick, Tristan Sheppard, Thomas Eck and Nicholas Vitale
- Sgts. Slawson and Michael Iffert
A lawsuit was filed in the state Court of Claims by inmates following the 2016 incident.
Brindisi, the judge in the case, ruled in December that New York state owes restitution to 28 current and former inmates for the pain and humiliation they suffered that day in 2016.
Many of the officers involved in the 2016 inmate beatings still work at the prison.
Joseph and Slawson were identified in the court papers in the lawsuit as being two of the officers involved.
Slawson and Joseph were directed to move an inmate from one of the prison dorms to another housing unit for an investigation, according to Brindisi’s ruling.
Slawson said they went into the dorm bathroom and encountered the inmate, Roy Bowers. Joseph said he told Bowers to put his hands on the wall. Bowers rushed at him, knocking him to the ground, Joseph said.
Joseph said he struggled with Slawson and Bowers until Bowers could be handcuffed.
Bowers was later photographed with swelling under his left eye, a small cut on his right cheek and a red mark on his lower back.
The court papers do not go into any further detail on whether Joseph and Slawson participated in the broader attacks on the inmates that included beatings and sexual assault.
In Nantwi’s March 1 death, authorities have not yet made clear what any of the prison employees did.
Gov. Kathy Hochul previously said there are indications that “extremely disturbing conduct” led to his death.
A lawyer for the state Attorney General’s Office said in court papers that there is probable cause to believe that as many as nine of state prison employees caused, or contributed to, Nantwi’s death.
The AG’s office initially led the investigation, but later recused itself since it is also representing some of the corrections officers involved in Nantwi’s death in active civil lawsuits. Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick was appointed as a special prosecutor.
It is not clear whether there is any body camera footage of what happened.
The Mid-State prison is across the street from Marcy Correctional Facility, where body cameras recorded several corrections officers brutally beat an inmate, Robert L. Brooks, to death in December. The cameras were not turned on by the guards, but they have a “video recall” function that let investigators retrieve some video.
Nearly a dozen people have been indicted in Brooks case, with some facing a murder charge.
Mid-State is a medium-security state prison located in Oneida County, about seven miles west of Utica. It had about 1,220 inmates as of March 1, records show.
An independent monitoring group, the Correctional Association of New York, has identified issues in the past at the prison.
The group interviewed more than 100 inmates in fall 2022 and said inmates reported “numerous allegations” of staff abuse and retaliation.
“People described their interactions with staff as demeaning and fearful,” the group wrote in its report.
More on death of inmate at Mid-State prison
- NY lawmakers must address the real prison crisis: rampant brutality (Your Letters)
- Grand jury to hear evidence in inmate’s death at Central NY prison
- AG’s office finds ‘probable cause’ as many as 9 guards caused or contributed to 2nd inmate’s death
- Onondaga County DA named special prosecutor to investigate death of 2nd state inmate
- Gov.: Indications are ‘extremely disturbing conduct’ led to death of Utica-area prison inmate
Staff writer Jon Moss covers breaking news, crime and public safety. He can be reached at jmoss@syracuse.com or @mossjon7.