SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT Ex-officer to plead guilty in inmate beating case

This is the second supervisor to plead guilty.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Ronald Denson was scheduled to plead guilty today in federal court to passing on orders that resulted in the beating of a Mahoning County jail inmate.
Denson, 49, of Austintown, was indicted in July along with five other corrections officers. He is charged with conspiracy against civil rights and two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law.
He retired in September 2003 as a corporal.
Denson ordered deputies to take the inmate, Tawhon Easterly, from his cell to a recreation area, where he was beaten in December 2001. Denson passed on the order from then-Maj. Michael Budd, the government said.
Denson is the second supervisor to plead guilty in a civil rights case that involves four current and four former Mahoning County Sheriff's Department employees.
The other supervisor, Bill DeLuca, 53, of Youngstown, pleaded guilty Sept. 23. DeLuca retired as a sergeant in July 2002.
Gave the order
The government said Budd wanted Easterly to be "put in the hospital" after the inmate had punched a female guard. DeLuca admitted that he passed the order on to deputies who carried it out.
Budd, 43, of Boardman, was indicted Oct. 8 and arrested Oct. 12. He is also charged with ordering the beating or personally beating two other inmates. He pleaded innocent and was placed on unsecured bond.
Sheriff Randall A. Wellington demoted Budd to deputy and placed him on paid leave, as he did the remaining three current deputies.
Other defendants
The remaining defendants, all of whom are free on unsecured bonds, are: Deputy Raymond Hull III, 35, of Poland; Deputy John Rivera, 32, of Youngstown; Deputy Ryan C. Strange, 28, of Vienna; and Mark Dixon, 31, of Youngstown, a former deputy also charged in an unrelated sex case.
Also cooperating is Ronald Kaschak, 29, of Austintown, who resigned as a deputy in April after pleading guilty to his part in the beating and named names. The investigation began in the summer of 2003 when Kaschak applied to the Austintown Police Department and admitted inmate abuse during pre-employment tests.
The deputies' case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Lesley Brooks Wells in Cleveland. It is being prosecuted by Steve M. Dettelbach, an assistant U.S. attorney.
meade@vindy.com