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2 Former Prison Guards Get Probation in Inmate's Assault

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PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) — Two former prison guards in the Florida Panhandle have been sentenced to three years of probation for their parts in an attack on a shackled inmate.

A federal judge in Panama City sentenced William Finch and Dalton Riley on Wednesday. Finch received an additional six months of home detention. They both pleaded guilty in April to violating the civil rights of an inmate.

An indictment says the officers assaulted inmate Jeremiah Tatum without justification and caused bodily harm in August 2014 at the Northwest Florida Reception Center in Chipley.

The Panama City News Herald (http://goo.gl/CHSxXS ) reports that three other officers also were charged in the assault.

Last year, the Florida Department of Corrections fired nearly 50 employees, including several over allegations that they punched and beat inmates.

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