30 months for former sheriff’s sergeant in inmate assault

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Federal authorities say a former sergeant with a Louisiana sheriff’s office has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for beating a jail inmate and ordering a police dog to attack him.

David Prejean (PRAY-jawn) pleaded guilty in February to the 2012 assault at the Iberia Parish Jail.

Prejean ordered his dog to bite the inmate. He also struck the inmate several times and wrote a false report to cover up the attack.

Prejean was a sergeant with the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office at the time. Prosecutors said he was called to the jail to assist with a shakedown.

Documents show that he threw the inmate to the ground after the inmate disobeyed a command — and continued the attack after the inmate was compliant and posed no threat.