Illinois Prison Guard Sentenced to 20 Years for Inmate Beating Death

Larry Earvin, a now deceased inmate was beaten by prison guards on May 17, 2018. He later died of his injuries on June 26, 2018. He was 65.

His injuries included 15 broken ribs and abdominal injuries so severe he had to have a portion of his bowel surgically removed after the beating.

Alex Banta, 31, of Quincy, IL was “caught up in the culture” of silence
surrounding physically assaulting inmates but there was no excuse for
his treatment of 65-year-old Larry Earvin at Western Illinois
Correctional Center, said U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough.

In a
statement to the court, Banta expressed regret and took responsibility
for his actions, as well as corroborated trial testimony that rough treatment
of prisoners was not only condoned but expected at the prison in Mount
Sterling, 250 miles (400 kilometers) southwest of Chicago.

Following a four-week trial, a jury convicted Banta in April 2022 of conspiracy to deprive civil rights, deprivation of civil rights, obstruction of an investigation, falsification of documents and misleading conduct.

“You were one of the younger officers caught up in the culture at Western of ‘see no evil’ and ‘snitches get stitches,’ which you learned from your superiors, but it in no way excuses your conduct," Myerscough said. “The governor has replaced the warden and implemented other reforms, so hopefully this culture has changed already.”

“What type of person does it take to assault a 65-year-old man who's handcuffed behind his back?" remarked Earvin's brother Willie Earvin Jr., 74, who testified for the prosecution. "I'm a Vietnam veteran and we weren't allowed to do that to prisoners."

Other guards testified that Earvin, having reported too late for a break in the yard, refused to return to his cell and allegedly became combative. That prompted an “officer in distress” call to which all available officers are required to respond. Dozens did so and then several, including Banta, escorted him to a segretaion unit which is not monitored by cameras.

Several witnesses and medical experts testified in court that the debilitating and eventually fatal injuries were the result of kicking, punching, stomping and jumping on a prone Earvin in the segregation unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Bass declared that the fatal blow to Earvin came when Banta "jumped up and landed on the inmate's abdomen with both knees."

He faced up to life in prison. Myerscough sentenced him to 15 years on the civil rights charges and five years on the other counts, to run consecutively.