FL Prison Guard Sentenced Over Abuse

MIAMI (AP) — A South Florida prison guard has been sentenced to one year behind bars for federal civil rights violations involving inmate abuse.

U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga imposed the sentence Monday on 31-year-old guard Alexander McQueen. A second guard, 31-year-old Steven Dawkins, was sentenced to a month in prison for obstruction of justice.

The incidents took place in 2009 at the state South Florida Reception Center near Miami.

McQueen and Dawkins were convicted by a Miami jury in October. Prosecutors said the guards were involved in choking, punching and striking inmates with broom handles. They also forced inmates to fight each other and falsified reports about the incidents.

A third guard pleaded guilty to a civil rights charge in December. He is scheduled to be sentenced in February.

Source: Associated Press