Former Georgia Deputy Sentenced to Federal Prison for Beating Black Detainee in Jail Cell Assault

In this image from Camden County Detention Center surveillance video provided by attorney Harry Daniels, jailers beat detainee Jarrett Hobbs at the facility in Georgia, Sept. 3, 2022. (Camden County Detention Center/Courtesy of Attorney Harry Daniels

A former sheriff’s deputy in Georgia has been sentenced to 16 months in federal prison for repeatedly punching a Black detainee during a brutal assault captured by jail security cameras nearly three years ago.

Ryan Biegel, 27, a former Camden County deputy, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court after pleading guilty to violating the constitutional rights of Jarrett Hobbs by using excessive force. The incident occurred on September 3, 2022, at the Camden County jail, near the Georgia-Florida border.

Hobbs, a resident of Greensboro, North Carolina, had been booked into the facility for traffic violations and drug possession. Security footage from that night showed Hobbs standing alone in his cell when five deputies stormed in and surrounded him. At least three of the officers were seen punching Hobbs repeatedly in the head and neck before dragging him from the cell and slamming him against a wall.

Biegel and two other deputies involved, all of whom are white, were fired and later arrested in connection with the incident. However, their arrests only came after one of Hobbs’ attorneys obtained the surveillance video and released it publicly more than two months later. All three former deputies still face state charges of battery and violating their oaths of office in Camden County Superior Court. Federal charges were filed only against Biegel.

Attorneys for Hobbs, civil rights advocates Harry Daniels and Bakari Sellers, condemned the violent assault and celebrated the sentencing as a step toward justice.

“Let this sentence serve as some solace to everyone who has been terrorized by violence masquerading as law and order and a warning to their brutalizers,” the attorneys said in a statement. “Your badge will not protect you any more than it protected Ryan Biegel.”

Biegel’s defense attorney, Adrienne Browning, declined to comment following the sentencing.

Initially, it was Hobbs who faced legal consequences. He was charged with aggravated battery, simple assault, and obstruction of law enforcement. Those charges were later dismissed due to lack of evidence. Prosecutors also dropped the traffic and drug charges that led to his arrest and detention in the first place.

To avoid a civil lawsuit, Camden County officials reached a financial settlement with Hobbs. The amount of the payout has not been publicly disclosed.