Former deputy gets probation for role in abuse of inmates

He will be on electronically monitored home confinement for six months.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The last of eight former Mahoning County Sheriff's Department deputies convicted of inmate abuse has been sentenced to two years' probation.
Ronald J. Kaschak, 30, of Austintown appeared Thursday afternoon in Cleveland federal court for sentencing.
U.S. District Judge Lesley Brooks Wells ordered that the first six months of Kaschak's probation be spent on electronically monitored home confinement. No fine was imposed.
After an investigation by the FBI and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, Kaschak pleaded guilty in April 2004 to depriving an inmate of his constitutional rights by aiding and abetting others in using excessive force. Sentencing was delayed while Kaschak cooperated with the government against his co-defendants.
The case was prosecuted by Steven M. Dettelbach and Kristy Parker. In all, eight defendants were convicted. Kaschak is the last to be sentenced.
His report
The beating of jail inmate Tawhon Easterly in December 2001 came to light when Kaschak applied for a job at the Austintown Police Department the following summer. During a series of pre-employment exams, which included voice-stress analysis, Kaschak reported questionable use of force in the jail.
In a plea agreement, Kaschak admitted that, had the case gone to trial, the government would have proved that Easterly was beaten first by deputies after he struck Deputy Christina Kachaylo, who broke up a fight between inmates Dec. 28, 2001. 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.
Senior management turned out to be then-Maj. Michael Budd. The supervisors were Bill Deluca and Ronald Denson.
After the second beating, Easterly was stripped naked and dragged to a cell, the government has said.
Easterly has been incarcerated since July 2002, serving six years for involuntary manslaughter and three years for a gun specification. In June 2002, he was convicted of assaulting Kachaylo.