Former Muskogee County Jailers Convicted Of Excessive Force Against Inmates

A federal jury in Muskogee has convicted the former superintendent and assistant superintendent of the Muskogee County Jail on multiple counts of excessive force on inmates.

Raymond Barnes, 42, and Christopher Brown, 31, were indicted in February 2013 for using excessive force on inmates at the Muskogee County Jail between August 2009 and May 2011.

In addition, Brown was also charged with making material false statements to the FBI.  He was convicted of that charge as well.

2/13/2013 Related Story: Former Muskogee Jail Superintendent, Assistant Indicted On Civil Rights Charges

According to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice, both Barnes and Brown were found guilty of conspiring to violate the rights of inmates housed at the jail by assaulting inmates themselves or by directing other jailers employed by jail to do so.

"Our Constitutional system of government requires this nation's jailers to abide by the laws they enforce, and to protect the Constitutional rights of all persons in their custody," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels of the Civil Rights Division. "Today's verdict demonstrates that the Department of Justice will vigorously prosecute anyone who abuses their official power to harm the people in their custody."

Barnes and Brown face a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years for each of the civil rights convictions. And Brown faces a statutory maximum penalty of five years for making material false statements to the FBI.