Utica, New York — Four prison guards participated In the death of an imprisoned black man whose brutal beating at an upstate New York prison last year was captured on body camera videos were sentenced Friday to prison.
The four had it plead guilty In September, just two weeks before the start of the trial of a group of guards accused in the death of Robert Brooks, who was beaten while handcuffed at Marcy Correctional Facility on December 9. The beating of the 43-year-old handcuffed man sparked outrage and calls for reform.
Nicholas Anzalone and Anthony Farina, who faced a murder charge before pleading guilty to a lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter, each received a 22-year prison sentence. Two other men charged with second-degree manslaughter also pleaded guilty. Michael Machau was sentenced to between three and nine years in prison, while David Walters was sentenced to two years, four months and seven years.
Brooks had been serving a 12-year sentence for first-degree assault since 2017, and was transferred to Marcy from a nearby jail on the night of the beating. The videos show Brooks being hit in the chest with a shoe, then being lifted by the neck and then falling.
During the hearing, prosecutors read testimony from Brooks’ relatives, including his brother Jared Ricks, who wrote that he hoped the “welcoming committee” would show the four defendants more kindness when they arrived at state prison as incarcerated people than they showed his brother. The Syracuse website reported.
The victim’s son, Robert Brooks Jr., wrote that watching the video of his father’s fatal beating was like watching a horror movie.
“I pray that this case teaches others that they cannot treat prisoners like animals,” he wrote.
Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, the special prosecutor in the case, said the two men were not allowed to read their statements themselves over the objections of the four defense attorneys after Fitzpatrick failed to submit the required paperwork.
The first confession in the case came last May, when a guard accused of murder pleaded guilty to manslaughter under an agreement with prosecutors. In August, Christopher Walrath, who resigned, was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
last The guard pleaded guilty later in May For attempting to tamper with physical evidence, he was sentenced to one year’s supervised release.
The trial of three other guards charged with murder and first-degree manslaughter concluded last month with a jury convicting David Kingsley on both charges, but acquitting the other two, Matthew Galleher and Nicholas Kiefer. Kingsley faces a possible life sentence when he is sentenced, while the last guard, Michael Fisher, is scheduled to stand trial in January on a charge of second-degree manslaughter.
Fitzpatrick also prosecutes guards in The fatal beating of Christ of Nantou on March 1 At another Marcy prison, Mid State Correctional Facility. Eight guards have reached plea agreements in the case, while five others are scheduled to stand trial in March, including two accused of murder.
Both prisons are located about 180 miles (290 kilometers) northwest of New York City.