MAHONING COUNTY Six are arrested in the beating of jail inmate

The defendants were expected to be in federal court today.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Six corrections officers -- three current and three former -- were arrested today, accused of taking part in the beating of an inmate at the Mahoning County jail.
The roundup of the six -- each arrested at home -- concluded around 6:30 a.m., said FBI Special Agent John Kane, in charge of the bureau's Boardman office.
"With this many deputies involved, it's a huge civil rights case," Sheriff Randall A. Wellington said today. "I'm very, very disappointed."
Wellington said the three current deputies will likely be placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the case.
In federal custody
The six were in the custody of U.S. marshals and were scheduled to make their initial appearance at 2 p.m. today in U.S. District Court in Youngstown. At that time, the indictment would be unsealed. The six:
UDeputy Raymond Hull III, 35, of Poland was hired in August 1996. He is charged with conspiracy against civil rights and deprivation of civil rights under color of law.
UDeputy John Rivera, 32, of Youngstown was hired in August 1996. He is charged with conspiracy against civil rights.
UDeputy Ryan C. Strange, 28, of Burghill, Ohio, was hired in September 2000. He is charged with conspiracy against civil rights and deprivation of civil rights under color of law.
UDeputy Mark Dixon, 31, of Youngstown is charged with conspiracy against civil rights and deprivation of civil rights under color of law. He was removed from the sheriff department's payroll in March 2003, and his status is frozen pending outcome of an unrelated criminal charge. He was originally placed on leave in November 2002, after being accused of having sex with an inmate. His trial is pending in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
URonald Denson, 49, of Austintown was hired in December 1981. He is charged with conspiracy against civil rights and deprivation of civil rights under color of law. He retired as a deputy Sept. 20, 2003.
UWilliam E. DeLuca, 53, of Youngstown was hired in September 1985. He is charged with conspiracy against civil rights. He retired as a sergeant July 17, 2002.
The former inmate
Kane said the case involves former inmate Tawhon Easterly. Kane said the investigation continues and referred questions to Steven M. Dettelbach, an assistant U.S. attorney.
Easterly's beating came to light when Deputy Ronald J. Kaschak applied for a job at the Austintown Police Department last summer. During a series of pre-employment exams, which included voice-stress analysis, Kaschak made allegations of questionable use of force in the jail.
In April, after an investigation by the FBI, Kaschak, 29, of Austintown, pleaded guilty in federal court in Cleveland to depriving an inmate of his constitutional rights by aiding and abetting others in using excessive force. Kaschak resigned about a month ago and is cooperating with federal prosecutors.
Kaschak had been scheduled to be sentenced this past Monday, but the government filed a motion to delay it and U.S. District Judge Lesley Brooks Wells granted the request. No new date has been set.
The case was investigated by the FBI and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Dettelbach and Kristy Parker.
Kaschak said that, had the case gone to trial, the government would have proved that Easterly, 25, of Youngstown, was beaten Dec. 28, 2001, by deputies after he struck Deputy Christina Kachaylo. Later that same day, Kaschak, who was not involved in the first beating of Easterly, was given direction from "senior management" and "his supervisors" to put Easterly in the hospital as further punishment.
Kaschak and at least three other detention officers beat Easterly, the government said. Although Kaschak did not strike as many blows as the others, he did hold the inmate down and deliver several blows to the inmate's lower body.
"After the second beating was over, other deputies dragged the inmate, stripped naked, through the disciplinary unit to his cell," the government said.
Easterly has been incarcerated at Trumbull Correctional Institution since July 2002, serving six years for involuntary manslaughter. In June 2002, he was convicted of assaulting Kachaylo.
meade@vindy.com