A federal jury convicted two former Virgin Islands correctional officers of depriving an inmate of his rights under color of law and obstruction of an FBI investigation, United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced Thursday.
After an eight-day trial, the jury returned guilty verdicts against Maxwell Bryan, 53, and Elvin Bloice, 72, both correctional officers at the John A. Bell Correctional Facility on St. Croix at the time of offenses. Bloice was also convicted of making materially false statements to the FBI, according to the press release.
According to the evidence presented at trial, on Sept. 17, 2021, after refusing to return to his cell, Bryan cornered the inmate, lifted, and pushed him into his cell. Once in his cell, Bryan punched the inmate twice on his forehead and choked him. While the assault was underway, Bloice stood in front of the cell and partially closed the cell door to prevent the ongoing assault from being captured by the facility’s video cameras.
Trial evidence further established that Bryan’s assault of the inmate was in retaliation to an incident that occurred on Aug. 23, 2021, when the inmate kicked the door of Bryan’s vehicle. After the assault, both Bryan and Bloice knowingly submitted false incident reports denying any assault occurred. Thereafter, on Oct. 4, 2021, Bloice again denied to the FBI that the assault ever occurred.
“The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to upholding the civil and constitutional rights of all citizens, including inmates who must rely on correctional officers to protect them. This case warranted attention from the Department of Justice because of the Color
of Law violations that makes it a crime for anyone to abuse their legal power or authority to deprive another of their rights”, Smith said.
