FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CRT

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, (202) 514-2007

2006 TDD (202) 514-1888
WWW.USDOJ.GOV

Mississippi Sergeant Pleads Guilty to

Civil Rights Violations
Fourth Individual Charged, Third to Plea Guilty in
Relation to Events at Harrison County Adult
Detention Center
WASHINGTON — Dedri Yulon Caldwell, a former Sergeant with the Harrison
County Sheriff’s Department in Mississippi, pleaded guilty today to a one-count
criminal information charging her with conspiring to violate the civil rights of
inmates. The charge arises from Caldwell’s actions as a corrections officer at the
Harrison County Adult Detention Center from April 2001 through December 2005.
Caldwell faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for the offense.

In documents filed in federal court today, Caldwell admitted that for more than five
years, she and other corrections officers participated in a conspiracy to intentionally
use excessive force to punish, intimidate, injure, oppress, threaten and retaliate
against inmates at the jail.

“Officers of the law hold a critical role in our society. They are the guardians of
justice,” said Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.
“While the overwhelming majority of law enforcement officials carry out their
important work with extraordinary professionalism, the Justice Department will
vigorously prosecute abuses consistent with federal law.”

In August 2006, Ryan Michael Teel, a former Deputy of the Harrison County
Sheriff’s Department, was charged in a two-count indictment relating to the
circumstances surrounding the death of an inmate who died as a result of injuries
sustained at the prison earlier this year. Teel faces a maximum penalty of life in
prison on count one of the indictment, and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison
and a fine of $250,000 on count two. Two other former officers, Regina Rhodes and
Morgan Thompson, have also pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to
violate the civil rights of inmates.

The Civil Rights Division is committed to the vigorous enforcement of every federal
criminal civil rights statute, such as laws that prohibit the willful use of excessive
force or other acts of misconduct by law enforcement officials. In fiscal year 2006,
nearly 50 percent of the cases brought by the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights
Division involved such prosecutions. Since fiscal year 2001, the Division has
convicted 50 percent more defendants for excessive force and official misconduct
than in the preceding six years.

Civil Rights Division prosecutors Lisa M. Krigsten and John Cotton Richmond and
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack B. Lacy, Jr. handled this matter for the Department.

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