THREE FORMER WACKENHUT EMPLOYEES CONVICTED
OF CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Three former employees of Wackenhut Corrections Corporation were found guilty of civil rights conspiracy and obstruction charges, the Justice Department announced today. The defendants served as guards in the Lea County Corrections Facility in Hobbs, New Mexico.

A unanimous jury verdict convicted William Fuller and Matias Serrata Jr., both former lieutenants with the Lea County Corrections Facility (LCCF), and Kendall Lipscomb, a corrections officer employed by LCCF, on the five-count indictment returned against them in May of 2001. Judge William Johnson presided over the trial in federal district for the District of New Mexico.

As a result of a separate federal civil rights investigation, Wackenhut Corrections Corporation reached a settlement agreement with the Justice Department in April of 2000 to resolve charges of excessive force and neglect complaints with the Jena Juvenile Justice Center located in Jena, Louisiana.

The jury found the defendants guilty of willfully assaulting Eric Duran, an inmate in the LCCF, by kicking him multiple times in the head and causing bodily injury. Additionally, the jury found the defendants guilty of falsifying reports and lying to investigators to explain the use of unjustified force against the inmate.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in New Mexico. The case was prosecuted by the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and the New Mexico United States Attorney's Office.

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