LEXINGTON, Ky. _ A Kentucky deputy jailer admitted having two inmates assault a third man in the jail because the deputy believed he had broken into her house a few months earlier.
The former deputy, Deborah Martina Alcorn, pleaded guilty to one charge of violating the civil rights of an inmate.
The incident happened in April 2018 at the Rockcastle County Detention Center when a man identified only as N.G. was booked into the jail, according to Alcorn's plea agreement.
Alcorn's house had been burglarized in February 2018 and Alcorn suspected N.G. had done it, though there wasn't enough evidence to charge him, according to the court record.
When Alcorn saw N.G. in the booking area, she got upset and talked to other deputy jailers about her suspicion.
A trustee _ an inmate with extra privileges in the jail _ overheard Alcorn and asked if she wanted him "to take care of it," according to the plea agreement.
Alcorn told the trustee to go ahead. Alcorn walked away, and when she got back, a trustee was fighting with N.G., who suffered a busted lip.
Alcorn admitted she gave approval for the trustees to assault N.G., and told FBI agents she knew N.G. would be assaulted.
The crime is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Claria Horn Boom scheduled sentencing in November.
However, Alcorn's plea agreement said prosecutors would not object to her being placed on probation with a period of home detention if Alcorn testifies truthfully against another former deputy jailer at the facility, Derek Steven Clark
Clark is charged in a separate incident from March 2018 with having an inmate assault a man, identified as D.W., after placing him in a restraint chair.
A grand jury charged that Clark told authorities D.W. became combative as Clark was trying to restrain him and spat in inmate T.A.'s face; that after T.A. slapped him, D.W. bit his lip and spat blood in T.A.'s face; and that T.A. punched him in the nose after that.
The reality was that D.W. was not combative and T.A. hit him at Clark's direction after he was restrained and not posing a threat, the grand jury charged.
The indictment alleged Clark gave T.S. a note saying "get him," after D.W. was restrained.
Clark has denied the allegations and is scheduled to go on trial Monday.
One charge against him is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
