FORT SMITH -- Franklin County Sheriff Anthony Boen was convicted Monday of twice using unreasonable force against detainees.
A jury convicted Boen, 51, of two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law stemming from two incidents against detainees resulting in bodily injury in 2018. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison and additional fines, according to Charlie Robbins, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Arkansas.
U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks expects Boen to be sentenced in about four months.
Boen, who has served as sheriff since 2011, was indicted on his three charges Dec. 17, 2019. The indictment accused him of causing "bodily injury" to detainees in the three incidents.
The jury determined Boen on Nov. 21, 2018, ordered detainee Brandon English of Ozark to the detectives' office, where he pushed English onto the floor and grabbed his hair or beard. It also determined Boen on Dec. 3, 2018, hit detainee Zachery Greene of Ozark "multiple times in the head" while Green was shackled to a bench in the county jail.
The jury found Boen not guilty of accusations he punched detainee Justin Phillips of Panama, Okla., multiple times en route to the Franklin County Jail on Sept. 14, 2017, while Phillips was shackled in the back of the patrol car and not resisting.
The jury had to reach a unanimous guilty verdict on each count based on four criteria, according to Brooks:
• That Boen deprived the victims of the right of a pretrial detainee, free from unreasonable force by a law enforcement officer.
• That Boen acted willfully to disregard the law.
• That Boen acted under color of law.
• And that Boen's actions resulted in bodily injury.
Brooks ordered Boen to be held in custody before sentencing.
The trial lasted five days before jury deliberation began Friday. It had been postponed four times since the indictment. A federal jury trial moratorium was in place from March 2020 until May 17, 2021, due to covid-19.
Demonstrators stood outside the courthouse Monday morning with signs supporting Boen. Boen's family cried after the two guilty verdicts and when two U.S. marshals escorted him out of the courtroom.
Two family members declined to comment on the verdict after leaving the courthouse.
Zachery Greene's mother, Lori Greene, who attended all six days of the trial, said it had been "a long three years" waiting for the verdict on behalf of her son. Zachery Greene is serving a prison sentence for first- and second-degree battery convictions, according to Arkansas Department of Corrections records.
"What he did was wrong, but that did not give the sheriff the right to beat the living daylights out of him," she said.
The Franklin County Quorum Court last month began the process of removing Boen from office. Boen was still getting paid. His yearly salary is $45,183.54, according to the Franklin County Clerk's Office.
Kristen Clarke, U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division assistant attorney general, said in a Monday news release Boen abused his power as the top law enforcement officer in Franklin County by assaulting people in his custody. James Dawson, FBI Little Rock special agent in charge, pledged his office's commitment to investigating civil rights violations, saying actions such as Boen's gravely injure the public's trust in law enforcement.
David Clay Fowlkes, acting Western District attorney, said in the release Boen's actions violated both civil rights and the trust of Franklin County residents.
"Cases like this are very important to our office because they involve the most personal and basic of civil rights: the rights to be protected and unharmed while in the custody of law enforcement officers," Fowlkes said. "Today's guilty verdict shows that justice will prevail in cases where a person's civil rights are violated. We will continue to vigorously pursue cases involving the violation of basic civil rights that should be afforded to everyone."
After the conviction Brooks thanked the jurors for their diligence and attention to detail and for their civil service, especially during covid-19.