Former Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office employee pleads guilty

LAKE CHARLES, La. – Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta and U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a former employee of the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office pleaded guilty to his role in an inmate beating at the Iberia Parish Jail.

Jesse James Hayes, 36, of St. Martinville, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi to one count of deprivation of civil rights.

Hayes faces 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, participated in the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph G. Jarzabek, and Special Litigation Counsel Mark Blumberg and Trial Attorney Tona Boyd of the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, are prosecuting the case.