FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CRT

THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2006 (202) 514-2007

WWW.USDOJ.GOV TDD (202) 514-1888

Former Wilson County, Tennessee

Corrections Officer Sentenced
to Life in Prison on Civil Rights-
Related Charges
WASHINGTON — Former Wilson County, Tenn., corrections officer Patrick
Marlowe was sentenced to life imprisonment today on charges relating to violations
of the civil rights of inmates at the Wilson County Jail in Lebanon, Tenn.,
announced Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Wan J. Kim,
U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Jim Vines, and Special Agent in
Charge of the Memphis Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation My
Harrison.

“It is appalling that an officer would engage in a concerted scheme to violently

abuse those entrusted to his custody,” said Assistant Attorney General Kim. “Those
who abuse their position of trust are a stain on the vast majority of law enforcement
officers who perform honorably under danger and difficult circumstances. The
Department of Justice is committed to vigorously enforcing the criminal civil rights
laws.”

Marlowe was the supervisory corrections officer on the evening shift of the Wilson
County Jail from 2001 to early 2003. He and fellow former officer Shane Conatser
were convicted at trial of conspiring to violate the rights of inmates at the jail under
18 U.S.C. § 241 by assaulting and depriving them of medical care. Marlowe also
was convicted of six separate counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 242 by violating the
civil rights of inmates at the jail by assaulting them or denying them medical care.
These counts included convictions for assaulting inmate Walter Kuntz and for
causing his death by denying him medical care after he was assaulted by Marlowe
and another jailer.

In addition to Marlowe, seven other former Wilson County corrections officers have
been convicted and sentenced on felony charges relating to violations of the civil
rights of inmates at the Wilson County Jail.

In announcing the sentencing, Assistant Attorney General Kim commended the U.S.
Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, the Criminal Section of the
Civil Rights Division, the FBI, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and the
District Attorney General’s Office for the Fifteenth Judicial District for their
involvement in this investigation and prosecution of alleged civil rights violations at
the Wilson County Jail.

The Civil Rights Division is committed to the vigorous enforcement of every federal
criminal civil rights statute, such as those laws that prohibit the willful use of
excessive force or other acts of misconduct by law enforcement officials. Since FY
2001, the Division has convicted 30 percent more defendants in official misconduct
prosecutions than in the preceding five fiscal years.

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