INMATE ABUSE CASE Former jail guards receive prison time

Members of the clergy sent letters of support for the fallen lawmen.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- Three ex-Mahoning County jail guards will soon know what it's like to wake up each day inside a prison cell.
John Rivera, Raymond Hull III and Ryan C. Strange once served as Mahoning County deputy sheriffs. They resigned in February after pleading guilty to conspiracy against civil rights and deprivation of civil rights under color of law.
They admitted beating inmate Tawhon Easterly after he punched a female deputy who tried to break up a fight in the jail on Dec. 28, 2001. Easterly, 26, is serving nine years at the Trumbull Correctional Institution for involuntary manslaughter.
The three former jail guards, barred forever from law enforcement, appeared Thursday in federal court for sentencing. Five more ex-deputies, including one-time Maj. Michael Budd, will be sentenced in the coming months.
Significance of case
U.S. District Judge Lesley Brooks Wells said the civil rights case has significance for the whole community. She said it undermines peoples' confidence in the law when those who are supposed to enforce it violate constitutional rights.
Rivera, 32, of Youngstown, was sentenced to 18 months in prison. The range was 18 to 24 months.
Hull, 36, of Poland, received a 15-month sentence. The range was 12 to 18 months.
Strange, 30, of Vienna, will do 21 months in prison. The range had been 27 to 33 months, but Judge Wells reduced it to the 21- to 27-month range, citing disparity with the sentences of his codefendants.
Each remains free on unsecured bond until notified by the federal Bureau of Prisons where to report. Placement typically takes 30 to 45 days.
After prison, Rivera, Hull and Strange will serve two years' supervised release and do 200 hours community service in lieu of a fine. They are not permitted to possess a firearm, something that troubled hunters Hull and Strange.
Rivera and Hull reached plea agreements with the government and testified against Budd. The cooperation earned them reduced sentences.
Strange's lawyer, Scott R. Cochran, opted to argue for a reduced sentence based on a variety of other factors -- all of which Judge Wells rejected. Strange's sentencing hearing lasted 21/2 hours, ending at 4:30 p.m., compared to hearings of one hour each for Rivera and Hull earlier in the day.
Strange's sentencing was interrupted three times by fire-drill sirens but everyone in Judge Wells' court remained seated. The judge said the drills are usually not announced, "but I'm a very senior judge and I found out about it."
Strange's contention that he played a minor role in the Easterly beating was soundly denounced by Steven M. Dettelbach, an assistant U.S. attorney, and Kristy Parker, U.S. Department of Justice civil rights division trial attorney based in Washington, D.C. The federal prosecutors said there was no evidence to support the claim, other than Strange's "self-serving" account of the event.
Apologies
Rivera, Hull and Strange apologized for their actions, tearing up and pausing to regain composure as they addressed Judge Wells.
By far, Strange assembled the largest contingent of family and friends. Roughly 40 filled the gallery. Rivera's supporters numbered 10; Hull had seven.
Rivera's Cleveland lawyer, Thomas M. Hanculak, told Judge Wells that his client's parents raised a good son, husband, father and cousin. Rivera's mother fought tears as she listened from the gallery.
Rivera's wife sobbed when the sentence was announced.
Rivera and his wife have four children under the age of 5. Hull has one child by his first wife and two with his current wife. Strange is unmarried.
Hull's Boardman lawyer, John F. Shultz, said his client let his emotions dictate his actions instead of his training. The lawyer said Hull, a Navy veteran, has been stripped of the career he wanted since childhood.
Judge Wells waded through more than 50 letters sent on Strange's behalf that were filed with the court. The letters urging leniency came from, among others, the Rev. John A. Temple, senior pastor at North-Mar Church in Warren; Pastor James E. Stewart Sr. of Orangeville Baptist Church; the Rev. David Searle, South Pymatuning Community Church in Sharpsville, Pa.; Jean Malandro, Salvation Army director of social services for Mahoning County; and three professors in criminal justice at Youngstown State University.
A letter sent in support of Rivera by Monsignor John Zuraw, executive director of clergy and religious services for the Youngstown Catholic Diocese, was read by the judge but not made part of the court record.
Judge Wells also received a thick stack of letters by Hull's family and friends, including one from a priest. She read and then returned the letters to a family member without making them part of the court record.
meade@vindy.com