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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Georgia Sheriff Sentenced to 10 Years

(CN) - A former sheriff in southern Georgia was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in federal prison for assaulting a jail inmate and his son to 1½ years for conspiring with his dad to cover it up.

Former Wilcox County Sheriff Stacy Bloodworth was sentenced to 10 years for assaulting an inmate in his jail and conspiring to cover it up, the Department of Justice said in a statement.

After Sheriff Bloodworth and his co-defendants assaulted three inmates, breaking one's jaw, the sheriff "used a wrench in an attempt to put his broken jaw back into place," the Justice Department said in the statement.

"Four other people have also been sentenced for their roles in the same assault and cover-up," the Justice Department said. "Bloodsworth's son, Austin Bloodsworth, was sentenced to 18 months in prison; former Wilcox County inmate-trustee Willie James Caruthers was sentenced to 18 months in prison; former South Central Georgia Drug Task Force Agent Timothy King Jr. was sentenced to 6 months in prison and former Wilcox County Jailer Casey Owens was sentenced to probation."

Stacy Bloodworth pleaded guilty in October last year to the July 23, 2009 assault.

According to the Justice Department statement: "Stacy Bloodsworth ordered three inmates out of their cells because he was angry that one of them reportedly had a cell phone, in violation of Wilcox County Jail regulations. Bloodsworth hit all three inmates, and also watched as other participants struck and kicked the inmates. After it appeared that one inmate's jaw had been broken, Stacy Bloodsworth used a wrench in an attempt to put his broken jaw back into place. Approximately one week later, the inmate was brought to a local hospital, where his jaw had to be wired shut. The other two inmates who had been assaulted suffered lacerations, bruising and pain."

The sheriff also cooked up a "false cover story," told his co-defendants to use it, and told the story to FBI agents, according to the Justice Department.

Willcox County, pop. 9,350, is a rural, thinly settled county in south central Georgia. Its seat is Abbeville.

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