Mississippi Rep. Sentenced to 27 Years for Torturing Black Men Wants Sentence Reduced, Claims He Was Alone in Truck, But Admits He Never Stopped Abuse

A former Mississippi sheriff’s deputy convicted in 2023 of torturing two black men has asked a federal judge to reduce his 27-year sentence, saying he merely waited in his truck while his colleagues committed the crime.

Brett McAlpin is one of six white former police officers who pleaded guilty in 2023 to breaking into a Jackson home without a warrant and participating in a brutal attack that lasted several hours.

The officers were sentenced in March to prison terms ranging from 10 to 40 years.

McAlpin, 53, was a chief investigator for the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office at the time of the crime.

He is serving a 27-year sentence, the second-longest of any defendant, in a federal prison in West Virginia.

Just months into his sentence, McAlpin claims in a legal filing that the sentence was “unreasonable” because he remained in his truck and played no direct role in the actual torture of Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker.

McAlpin’s attorney, Theodore Cooperstein, filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit on August 23, arguing that McAlpin was merely present when other officers committed the horrific acts, hoping that this would lessen his sentence.

“Brett was drawn into the situation as events unfolded and spiraled out of control, but he maintained a detached demeanor as the other officers acted,” Cooperstein wrote, according to The Associated Press.

The other former Rankin County deputies are Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke, and former Richland K-9 officer Joshua Hartfield.

The petition argues for leniency despite McAlpin’s failure to do anything to help the victims during the ordeal and his role in transporting the crew to and from the crime scene.

“Although Brett failed to stop the things he saw and knew were wrong, he did not order, initiate, or participate in the violent assault of the two victims,” the motion states.

The petition asks the appeals court to quash McAlpin’s sentence and order a district judge to impose a shorter sentence.

Cooperstein argued that the cumulative impact of the atrocities overshadowed McAlpin’s individual role, leaving him to bear the brunt of the collective condemnation. He suggested that the court’s and the public’s overall perception of the events unfairly reinforced his punishment.

McAlpin does not specify in his appeal exactly how many years he expects to lose from his sentence.

The motion significantly downplays McAlpin’s involvement, but his request for relief stands in stark contrast to Mississippi’s harsh sentencing for violent crimes involving torture.

Mississippi law emphasizes accountability for those involved in serious crimes. McAlpin’s argument does not change the fact that his actions still played a significant role in the crimes against Jenkins and Parker.

The January 24, 2023, attack included beatings, the use of stun guns, repeated attacks with a sex toy and ended with a victim being shot in the mouth as part of a mock execution that failed when the weapon failed to fire dry.

The crime was so horrific that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a criminal complaint against him.

“The depravity of the crimes committed by these defendants cannot be overstated,” Garland said after the group of former officers received federal sentences.

Before he was sent away on March 21, McAlpin apologized in open court but did not make eye contact with the victims.

“This was all wrong, very wrong. This is not how people should treat each other and even worse, this is not how law enforcement should treat people,” McAlpin said. “I’m truly sorry that I was part of something that made law enforcement look so bad.”

Federal prosecutor Christopher Perras previously argued for a lengthy sentence, arguing that while McAlpin was not a direct member of the Goon Squad, he played a crucial role in shaping the group into the violent enforcers they became.

One of the victims also described McAlpin as a “mafia boss” who directed the officers during the attack.

Prosecutors noted that the younger officers often tried to impress McAlpin. Daniel Opdyke’s attorney said his client saw McAlpin as a father figure.

Perras said some of the officers involved initially “wanted to be good police officers” but eventually “turned into monsters.”

“How did these officers learn to treat another human being this way? Your Honor, the answer is right here,” Perras argued during the trial, pointing to McAlpin.

Prosecutors say the nightmare began when a neighbor contacted McAlpin to complain about two black men living with a white woman in the town of Braxton.

Although no crime had been committed, McAlpin passed the information on to Deputy Sheriff Christian Dedmon, who then contacted a group of white officers known as “The Goon Squad” – notorious for their brutality and excessive force.

On the night of the attack on Jenkins and Parker, officers entered the home without a search warrant, turned off their body cameras and began beating the victims and yelling racial slurs.

They handcuffed the pair, stunned Parker and Jenkins dozens of times with tasers and poured milk, alcohol and chocolate syrup over their heads.

They then forced the victims to undress and shower together, in an attempt to wash away the evidence.

Jenkins survived the gunshot wound to his mouth, but his tongue was injured and his jaw was broken.

The agents conspired to cover up the crime, but when the attack came to light, it backfired.

The subsequent investigation revealed that the group had been exchanging disturbing text messages on WhatsApp, describing how they had tasered people in the face and genitals, joking about having sex with people who had committed suicide, been murdered or had been in car accidents, and showing them photos of their corpses. They also plotted to murder a man who had been involved in a hit-and-run.

The gruesome details of the case recalled Mississippi’s painful history of racially motivated abuse by law enforcement. This time, however, the perpetrators faced serious consequences for their actions, a fact emphasized by victims’ advocates.

U.S. District Judge Tom Lee condemned the former officers’ actions as “serious and despicable” and imposed sentences close to the maximum allowable federal guidelines for five of the six men involved in the attack.

The six former officers also pleaded guilty to state charges and were sentenced in April.

Hartfield, a former Richland police officer who was not part of the sheriff’s department or the Goon Squad, was the only defendant to receive a sentence less than the maximum recommended by federal guidelines. Judge Lee sent him away for 10 years.

Dedmon was sentenced to 40 years in prison, Opdyke and Middleton were both sentenced to 17.5 years, and Elward was sentenced to 20 years.