GEORGIA CORRECTIONS OFFICER PLEADS GUILTY
TO OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights R. Alexander Acosta and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia Maxwell Wood announced today that Kevin Clark, a sergeant at the Dougherty County Jail in Albany, Georgia pled guilty to felony obstruction of justice, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(3). Trial was set to begin today.

Clark pleaded guilty for his role in covering up the use of excessive force by a Dougherty County Jail official. Clark was a supervisor of Stephanie Henry, a detention officer at the facility. On March 9, 2002, Henry grabbed a young female inmate by the throat, choking her and causing injury. Henry subsequently pleaded guilty for this offense and admitted that her excessive use of force against the young woman was unnecessary and unjustified.

Today, Clark admitted that he orchestrated a cover up of the choking incident. In particular, Clark doctored reports submitted by Henry and other officers who witnessed the unjustified assault in order to create a false version of these events.

Clark faces a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment. As part of the plea agreement, Clark will no longer serve as a law enforcement officer.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the matter. Trail attorneys Bobbi Bernstein and Sharon Seeley of the Criminal Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and Jim Crane of the U.S. Attorney's Office jointly prosecuted this case.

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