A former Alabama sheriff’s deputy has been sentenced to prison after being found guilty of beating a detained individual in the head and causing multiple injuries, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama.
The attorney’s office has revealed that Blake Hicks, aged 33, has been sentenced to 29 months in prison and three years of supervised release for violating an arrestee’s civil rights.
According to court records and testimony presented during his trial, Hicks exerted “unjustifiable force” against the individual who was apprehended. The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that Hicks even resorted to physically assaulting the individual by punching and kicking them in the head while they were restrained and incapacitated on the ground.
After the incident, the person who was arrested experienced a broken cheekbone, concussion, and lacerations.
The case was investigated by the FBI Mobile Field Office, while Trial Attorney Laura-Kate Berstein and Special Litigation Counsel Michael J. Songer from the Civil Rights Division, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Counts from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama, worked together to prosecute the case.
