BALTIMORE - A former Maryland correctional officer was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for conspiring to destroy video evidence of a fellow officer’s assault on an inmate at the Eastern Correctional Institution in Westover, Maryland.
U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox handed down the sentence against Jermaine Sturgis, 41, of Laurel, Delaware, who also received one year of supervised release. A federal jury convicted Sturgis in December 2025 after a five-day trial on charges of conspiring to obstruct justice and making false statements to a federal officer. Sturgis had served as a lieutenant correctional officer at ECI.
“This defendant obstructed a lawful investigation by helping conceal the truth about a violent assault. Our system depends on public officials carrying out their duties honestly and lawfully. Unfortunately, Mr. Sturgis failed to comply with this mandate so now he must pay the price,” said U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes for the District of Maryland. “Our Office remains committed to prosecuting any individual who engages in such an abuse of trust. No one is above the law.”
According to trial testimony, on July 12, 2021, after one of Sturgis’s junior officers used excessive force against an inmate, Sturgis and multiple officers conspired to delete a video recording that showed the inmate’s injuries and other evidence of the unlawful use of force. During the three-year investigation, Sturgis also made false statements to state and federal investigators.
“When a correctional officer tampers with evidence or obstructs an investigation into fellow officers, it undercuts the public’s trust in the criminal justice system, thwarts lawful efforts to protect the civil rights of inmates, and threatens the safety of both inmates and other officers,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice is committed to holding accountable correctional officers who violate the laws they are sworn to uphold.”
Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul of the FBI Baltimore Field Office said Sturgis prioritized self-preservation over his duty. “Jermaine Sturgis not only lied about the assault on an inmate but directed a conspiracy to cover up that assault by deleting evidence. Sturgis focused on shielding himself from the consequences of his crimes at the expense of the inmate he swore to protect,” Paul said. “The FBI will vigorously investigate and hold accountable law enforcement officers who exploit their authority and violate the public’s trust.”
Sturgis was the fifth former ECI officer sentenced in the case. Judge Maddox previously sentenced four co-conspirators who pleaded guilty: Samuel Warren, 40, of Westover, Maryland, received 15 months in federal prison for assaulting the inmate and obstruction of justice; Neil Daubach, 47, of Salisbury, Maryland, received 12 months and 1 day for witness tampering and obstruction of justice; David Quillen, 40, of Ocean View, Delaware, received two years of probation with six months home detention for conspiracy and obstruction of justice; and Daric Evans, 34, of Crisfield, Maryland, received two years of probation with three months home detention for conspiracy.
Sturgis faces one year of supervised release following his 33-month prison term. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Budlow and Trial Attorney Anita Channapati of the DOJ Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.