• Marcus Bias is a former D.C. corrections officer.
• He was sentenced to prison for assaulting a handcuffed inmate.
• The incident began when the inmate refused to follow orders and used a phone in the dining hall.

A former D.C. corrections officer was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison for assaulting a handcuffed inmate in 2019. Marcus Bias, 28, admitted to a civil rights violation involving the assault, which left the inmate requiring a neck brace and two layers of stitches for head wounds. The sentencing took place on Friday.

Court documents revealed that Bias struck the inmate’s head against a metal door frame while the man was restrained. This incident occurred after the inmate allegedly assaulted another prison officer. Bias was dismissed from his position after the incident’s footage was reviewed. Although the assault occurred in 2019, Bias was not arrested until years later.

A U.S. Attorney stated, “The defendant had an obligation to protect the constitutional rights of anyone in his care and custody, just like any other law enforcement official.”

The altercation began when the inmate, identified only by his initials, engaged in a fight with a prison officer after refusing to follow orders and using a phone in the dining hall. Five members of the prison’s Emergency Response Team, including Bias, responded with pepper spray and handcuffed the inmate.

Prosecutors argued that Bias “intentionally and without provocation” attacked the inmate as he was being escorted to the medical unit. Security footage contradicted Bias’s initial report, which claimed the inmate fell against the door frame. The inmate later died from unrelated causes. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson also ordered Bias to serve a two-year supervised release period. Bias had pleaded guilty in March to one count of civil rights deprivation.

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