TALLAHASSEE — Two Franklin County prison guards have been arrested and now face federal charges in the wake of an alleged assault on an inmate, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
William J. Ray, 40, and Corry B. Fletcher, 43, were arrested Wednesday morning and arraigned in federal court later in the day on charges they conspired to violate the civil rights of a Franklin Correctional Institution inmate, officials reported. A July trial date was set during the arraignment.
A federal grand jury returned an indictment, unsealed Wednesday, charging that correctional officers Ray and Perkins conspired to violate the civil rights of a state inmate and deprived the inmate of constitutional rights at the state prison. Fletcher was additionally charged with obstruction of justice.
The indictment alleges that, in July 2014, while acting as state correctional officers at the Franklin Correctional Institution, Ray and Fletcher conspired to intimidate a state prison inmate in the free exercise and enjoyment of the constitutional right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment by correctional officers.
The indictment further charges that Ray and Fletcher physically assaulted an inmate at the Franklin Correctional Institution without justification and caused the inmate bodily injury. The indictment finally charges that, in April of this year, Fletcher obstructed justice by intentionally misleading FBI and Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents through false statements.
Florida Department of Corrections officials reported they assisted in facilitating the arrests.
“The Department has zero tolerance for misconduct of any kind and will continue to employ every available resource to investigate any violations of Department policy and procedure. The DOC will remain engaged in this investigation to assist the DOJ,” Secretary Julie Jones wrote in an email. “They will be held accountable and will face serious consequences.”
Ray, of Carrabelle, and Fletcher, of Bristol, were scheduled for trial July 13 in Tallahassee.