Former ADOC officer pleads guilty in excessive force and cover-up case

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - A former lieutenant with the Alabama Department of Corrections has pleaded guilty to assaulting an inmate and lying afterward to cover up the incident.

Mohammad Shahid Jenkins, a former William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility Lieutenant and Shift Commander, is accused of using excessive force against two inmates on two separate occasions that included hitting and using chemical spray against an inmate while he was handcuffed.

In another case, Jenkins hit, kicked, and sprayed an inmate with chemical spray while the inmate was in a holding cell, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Jenkins’s actions led to the inmates suffering from bodily injury.

As stated in the press release, “Following his assault on V.R., Jenkins authored a false incident report. In it, he gave a false account of where, in Donaldson, he transported V.R. to and he omitted entirely his use of force on V.R. from his report. As part of the factual basis, Jenkins further admitted that he lied to investigators by denying using any force on V.R.”

Jenkins is scheduled to be sentenced on December 19. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the excessive force charge and 20 years in prison on the obstruction charge. Jenkins also faces up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

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