AP Wire

As Ackal walks, 7 former deputies go to prison

by The Associated Press

The Iberia Parish sheriff, accused of ordering deputies to beat inmates, was cleared on federal civil rights charges, yet seven of those deputies, some of whom testified against him, are headed to prison.

Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal
Photo Illustration

Seven former sheriff's deputies have been sentenced to prison terms stemming from a Justice Department investigation of prisoners' beatings at a Louisiana jail.

The Advocate reports that a federal judge in Lafayette on Tuesday sentenced the former Iberia Parish sheriff's deputies to prison terms ranging from six months to more than four years.

Sheriff Louis Ackal was acquitted last year of federal civil rights charges. Ten of Ackal's deputies pleaded guilty and had agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in their case against the sheriff.

Ackal was accused of ordering inmates to be beaten in retaliation for a lewd comment and complaints about jail conditions.

Ackal's indictment claimed he directed officers to assault inmates in the parish jail's chapel, where no surveillance cameras would record the April 2011 beatings.