Two Former Eastern Kentucky Correctional Officers Plead Guilty for Their Roles in Assault of Restrained Inmate and Subsequent Cover-Up

Two former Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex (EKCC) officers pleaded guilty for their roles in the assault of a restrained inmate.

According to court documents, Randall T. Dennis, 28, pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of the inmate’s civil rights and Nathan M. Cantrell, 32, pleaded guilty to four counts of obstruction of justice for attempting to cover up what happened. In their plea agreements, the defendants admitted that on July 24, 2018, EKCC correctional officers assaulted a nonviolent inmate who was lying face-down, wearing handcuffs and leg shackles, and isolated in a prison shower cell. Dennis admitted that he participated in the assault by repeatedly striking the inmate while he was restrained and unresisting. Cantrell, who stood outside of the shower while the assault occurred, admitted that he falsified records by omitting the assault from his occurrence report, and that he later lied to the supervisor assigned to investigate the incident as well as a Kentucky State Police (KSP) detective and a Kentucky Internal Investigations Branch (IIB) investigator. 

Four other former officers have pleaded guilty in related cases. On April 10, former EKCC officer James Benish pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of civil rights based on his failure to intervene to protect the inmate, and former EKCC supervisor Randy Nickell pleaded guilty to three counts of obstruction based on his efforts to cover up the same assault. On Aug. 29, 2022, former EKCC officer Jeffery Havens pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of civil rights based on his assault of the inmate. On July 11, 2022, former EKCC officer Derek Mays pleaded guilty to four counts of obstruction of justice based on his efforts to cover up the assault.

Dennis and Cantrell are scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 11. Dennis faces a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Cantrell faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for each charge. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division; U.S. Attorney Carlton S. Shier IV for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI Louisville Field Office; and Colonel Phillip Burnett Jr. Commissioner of the KSP made the announcement.

The FBI, the KSP and the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet conducted the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Zach Dembo and Mary Melton for the Eastern District of Kentucky and Trial Attorney Thomas Johnson of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.