They covered up a prison beating. Now 6 correctional officers have been convicted.

One correctional officer pummeled the inmate while two others watched and didn’t intervene. A sergeant then instructed them to delete video footage of the incident’s aftermath. Collectively, six officers agreed to lie about what had taken place that day at the Eastern Correctional Institution.

No one was supposed to find out what really happened.

But nearly five years later, all six have been convicted of crimes for their roles. On Wednesday, the officer who initiated the attack and cover-up, Samuel Warren, 40, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox listened as Warren’s family pleaded for him to receive home detention so he could help his family care for a toddler who has a rare genetic disorder, autism and partial deafness.

But Maddox said he was concerned such a sentence would “embolden others in law enforcement to power trip” and that a message needed to be sent.

The victim, Keith Krikstan, who is still incarcerated, appeared in court and recounted that while his physical injuries had healed, he has post-traumatic stress disorder and requires psychiatric treatment. When his family doesn’t hear from him, they now assume the worst, he said, and he went as far as assuring them he is not suicidal “in case they (correctional officers) attempt to stage” his death.

The attack took place in July 2021. Krikstan, a Charles County man who is serving a 19-year sentence for child sex offenses, was working as an inmate observation aid, a position typically assigned to inmates with excellent disciplinary records.

According to prosecutors, Warren became irritated with Krikstan for wearing a face mask below his nose, then took exception to a comment Krikstan made.

Warren retaliated by strip-searching Krikstan, handcuffing him behind his back and directing him to a cell.

Krikstan “either pulled away” or “tripped because he was shuffling with lowered pants,” prosecutors said, and Warren threw him to the floor and punched him multiple times in the face and head.

Anita T. Channapati, an attorney with the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said the attack was “unprompted, unwarranted and purely retaliatory.”

Krikstan was taken for medical treatment, where he cried and said he had been assaulted, which an officer filmed.

Officers then huddled and watched the video in the unit’s control center, where Sgt. Jermaine Sturgis said the video “look[ed] bad” and needed to be deleted. Sturgis proposed a cover story for why the video had gone missing, and the officers agreed to lie about it to state investigators.

Krikstan thanked those state detectives with the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services “for believing my story when I thought no one would.” The FBI eventually took over the case.

One of the officers who witnessed the assault, Ananias Wilson, was charged in 2022 with obstructing and hindering and pleaded guilty in May 2023.

Warren and his attorney met with the government in August 2023, and he described the assault and the cover-up. Channapati said he was forthright and never minimized his conduct.

Warren was charged with deprivation of rights under color of law and falsification of records in September 2023, and federal prosecutors later charged Sturgis and three other officers who participated in the cover-up: Neil Daubach, Daric Evans and David Quillen. Daubach pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year in prison; the others are awaiting sentencing.

Warren was described by his defense attorney and family members as a model citizen who snapped under pressure. During the height of the pandemic, he was working 16-hour shifts regularly, and his brother died six months earlier. Before the assault, he was known for diffusing tension and conflict, his attorney said.

Maddox, the judge, noted that Warren had maintained his cool long enough to direct Krikstan away from cameras before committing the assault.

Warren apologized to Krikstan in court. “It should never have happened,” he said. “I hope you will someday forgive me.”