SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Jurors on Monday convicted an Illinois Department of Corrections officer for violating the civil rights of an inmate brutally beaten at a western Illinois prison in 2018, but could not reach a verdict against a superior.
30-year-old Alex Banta of Quincy was convicted after a four-week trial in the U.S. District Court of conspiracy to deprive civil rights, deprivation of civil rights, obstruction of an investigation, falsification of documents, and misleading conduct. Banta faces up to life in prison.
Outside U.S. District Court, members of the eight-man, four-woman jury, while unanimous on Banta’s culpability, were split 9-3 on the involvement of co-defendant 53-year-old Lt. Todd Sheffler of Mendon. His attorney expects the government to re-try him.
