MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A former Alabama police sergeant was sentenced to more than a year in prison, followed by nearly two years of supervised release plead guilty in August to beating a man in a prison cell.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that Ryan Phillips, a former sergeant with the Daleville Police Department, will serve 16 months in prison for civil rights violations. The attack occurred on March 1, 2022, according to court records.
An attorney for Phillips, 42, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday.
In the plea agreement, Phillips confirmed that after an argument with a man in custody, he entered a cell and punched the man “several times in the chest, back and face.” The man was alone in the cell and posed no danger to himself or others, according to the settlement.
“This sentence should serve as a reminder to all law enforcement officers that a badge is not a license to respond to verbal insults with physical force and excessive force,” said Kristen Clarke, an assistant U.S. attorney general.
Prosecutors initially said they would recommend 22 months in prison. Chief U.S. District Judge Emily Marks recommended that Phillips be confined to a facility with mental health and alcohol addiction treatment, according to the sentencing document.