OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A former Oklahoma correctional officer has pleaded guilty to using unreasonable force on an inmate during a 2014 incident at a jail in El Reno.
The Oklahoman reports that 41-year-old Jason Barber entered the plea Thursday in federal court in Oklahoma City.
Barber was accused of hitting pretrial detainee Lloyd Wayne Tillman during a disciplinary hearing in December 2014. Prosecutors have classified the offense as a misdemeanor because Tillman didn't suffer "bodily injury."
U.S. Magistrate Judge Shon Erwin accepted Barber's plea and will choose his punishment at sentencing early next year. The defense and prosecution are in agreement that Barber should be sentenced to probation.
Barber was terminated from the Canadian County Sheriff's Office in March 2016 after another use-of-force incident occurred involving a handcuffed inmate.