Former MDOC officer to serve 70 months in prison for beating inmate

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – A former Mississippi Department of Corrections officer has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison for her role in assaulting an inmate at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility.

Shelley Griffith, 29, was sentenced to serve 70 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan II.

Griffith pled guilty on Dec. 14, 2017, to violating the civil rights of an inmate by using excessive force against him.

Griffith admitted that in May of 2016, she entered the cell of an inmate along with two other correctional officers, Reginald Brown and Sharalyn McClain.

They then proceeded to punch, kick and stomp on the inmate while he laid face down on a mattress on the floor of his cell.

The officers wore boots while they attacked the inmate.

Brown and McClain have both pled guilty for their roles in the assault. Brown was sentenced to 60 months behind bars.

McClain will be sentenced on March 20, 2020.

“Violating a person’s civil rights, whether the person is incarcerated or not, is a serious offense and only damages the already delicate relationship between corrections officers and inmates,” said Special Agent in Charge Michelle A. Sutphin of the FBI’s Jackson Division.