A former midstate corrections officer is avoiding prison for planting evidence after an inmate’s death

Utica, NY – A former prison guard at Mid-State Correctional Facility has been convicted of providing evidence after an inmate’s death.

Messiah Nantwi, 22, was beaten to death at Marcy Prison on March 1. Officers used their fists, batons and boots to strike Nantwi after they said he was acting during a prisoner count, prosecutors said.

He was found lifeless 45 minutes after officers entered his cell. None of the proofreaders had cameras on their bodies.

David Ferrone previously pleaded guilty to planting a knife in Nantwin’s cell to justify the use of force as part of a larger cover-up.

On Friday, Ferrone was sentenced to a year of probation in exchange for his plea to tampering with physical evidence, prosecutor Alphonse Williams said. If Ferrone stays out of trouble for a year, he will avoid any jail time.

A bathroom security camera in the infirmary captured Ferrone discussing the plan to plant the gun, prosecutors said.

Williams said prosecutors expect Ferrone to cooperate and potentially testify against his former colleagues, but there is no written agreement.

Another officer, Joshua Barlett, agreed to testify against his fellow officers. He pleaded guilty to criminal obstruction of justice and falsifying business records in exchange for two years in prison. He also admitted to participating in the cover-up.

Onondaga County State’s Attorney William Fitzpatrick said a group of officers met at a local restaurant after Nantwi’s death to agree on a false story. Fitzpatrick is the special prosecutor handling the case.

Ten officers were indicted for their role in the death or the cover-up. Six others avoided charges by agreeing to cooperate, Fitzpatrick said. Ferrone was indicted; Bartlett was not.

The other guards

Here’s what happened to the nine proofreaders charged in connection with Nantwi’s death.

• Jonah Levy: He is charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, fifth-degree conspiracy and first-degree offering a false instrument. A trial is scheduled for March.
• Caleb Blair: He is charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, fifth-degree conspiracy and first-degree offering a false instrument. A trial is scheduled for May.
• Sgt. Francis Chandler Jr.: He was charged with second-degree gang assault, second-degree murder, two counts of fifth-degree conspiracy, first-degree offering a false instrument and tampering with evidence. He pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in exchange for four years in prison.
• Thomas Eck: He is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, two counts of fifth-degree conspiracy, first-degree offering a false instrument and tampering with evidence. He is due to go to trial in June.
• Craig Klemick: He is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, fifth-degree conspiracy and first-degree offering a false instrument. A trial is scheduled for May.
• Daniel Burger: He was charged with first-degree murder, first-degree gang assault, second-degree gang assault, fifth-degree conspiracy and first-degree offering a false instrument. He pleaded guilty to offering a forged instrument. He was sentenced to 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison.
• Nicholas Vitale: Pleaded guilty to offering a false instrument in the first degree and was sentenced to one year of conditional discharge.
• Sgt. Michael Iffert: He is charged with offering a false instrument in the first degree. A trial is scheduled for May.
• Sgt. Donald Slawson: Pleaded guilty to tampering with physical evidence and was sentenced to one year of probation.

Fitzpatrick said the officers who beat Nantwi on purpose made sure the incident wasn’t captured on a body-worn camera. Officers are required to have body camera footage when they are in the “presence” of inmates.

Nantwi is last seen on video at about 11 a.m. March 1 as the officer leaves his cell, Fitzpatrick said. Shortly after, a group of eight officers from the Correctional Rescue Team are called to help.

Nantwi was moved to the infirmary after he became unresponsive, Fitzpatrick said. As officers carried him downstairs and to the infirmary, he was beaten again, prosecutors said.

Nantwi’s fatal beating followed the death of Robert Brooks, an inmate at the nearby Marcy Correctional Facility, who was beaten to death by a guard on December 9, 2024.

A group of officers repeatedly punched and kicked Brooks in the groin, abdomen, neck and face in the prison’s infirmary.

The brutal beating, which prosecutors say was the last of three beatings by Brooks, was caught on video by body cameras worn by four police officers. No one had a camera on, but 30 minutes of video was passively recorded with no sound.