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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CRT

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2006 (202) 514-2007


WWW.USDOJ.GOV TDD (202) 514-1888

Former Wilson County, Tennessee


Corrections Officers
Convicted of Civil Rights Charges
WASHINGTON, D.C. –Two former Wilson County, Tennessee corrections officers
were convicted in federal court of violating the civil rights of detainees at the
Wilson County Jail in Lebanon, Tennessee the Justice Department announced today.
One defendant was acquitted.

The federal jury convicted defendant Patrick Marlowe of two counts of violating 18
U.S.C. § 242, deprivation of civil rights, for participating in the beating of Walter
Kuntz and then denying him medical care. The jury further found that Marlowe’s
failure to seek medical care resulted in Kuntz’s death. The jury also convicted
Marlowe of four additional violations of 18 U.S.C. § 242 for the beatings of four
other detainees and acquitted him of charges pertaining to another beating. In
addition, the jury convicted both Marlowe and defendant Tommy Shane Conatser of
violating 18 U.S.C. § 241 for conspiring together and with other jailers to assault
detainees and then cover up their conduct with false reports. All of the convictions
are felonies. Marlowe faces up to life imprisonment and up to $1,750,000 in fines.
Conatser faces up to 10 years imprisonment and up to $250,000 in fines.

“The Justice Department is committed to prosecuting those who abuse a position of


trust to mistreat those in custody,” said Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for
the Civil Rights Division. “Such unlawful behavior undermines the tireless efforts
of the vast majority of law enforcement officers throughout our nation who do a
tough job with professionalism and courage.”

Marlowe is the former evening shift supervisor of the other defendants and leader of
the conspiracy. Over the course of two years he and the co-defendants engaged in
routine beatings of detainees held at the Wilson County Jail. Marlowe and other
officers bragged about the beatings and filed false and misleading reports to cover
up the assaults. On January 12, 2003, Marlowe and other defendants severely beat
inmate Walter Kuntz after he was brought into the jail. After seriously injuring
Kuntz, Marlowe failed to call for medical care for several hours as Kuntz lay
unconscious on the floor of the jail. Kuntz eventually died from his injuries and the
delay in receiving medical care.
Six other former Wilson County correctional officers have pleaded guilty to felony
charges relating to violations of the civil rights of inmates at the Wilson County
Jail. On November 13, 2003, William Westmoreland pleaded guilty to charges
involving a July 2001 assault on a detainee, and Travis Bradley pleaded guilty to
lying to an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about another incident
in which guards at the jail assaulted a detainee. On April 9, 2004, John McKinney
pleaded guilty to charges relating to a September 2002 assault on a detainee that
McKinney witnessed but did not report in an internal report that he prepared
regarding the incident. On June 9, 2004, Christopher McCathern pleaded guilty to a
federal civil rights charge for assaulting a detainee, Vincent Gooch, in February
2002, and has been sentenced to 41 months of imprisonment. On December 28,
2005, Gary Hale pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights charge for his role in the
beating of Kuntz. On January 3, 2006, defendant Robert Ferrell pleaded guilty to a
federal civil rights charge for his role in assaulting detainee Dartanian McGee on
July 20, 2002.

Assistant Attorney General Kim commended the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the
Middle District of Tennessee, the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division, the
FBI, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and the Tennessee District Attorney
General's Office for the 15th Judicial District for their involvement in this
investigation and prosecution of alleged civil rights violations at the Wilson County
Jail.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William M. Cohen and Civil Rights Division attorneys
Gerard Hogan and Stephen Curran prosecuted these cases.

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06-041

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