BOP Guard Indicted, Sued for Assaulting Handcuffed Prisoner at Kentucky Lockup
The U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the Eastern District of Kentucky announced on November 12, 2024, that a federal grand jury had returned an indictment against a federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) guard for violating a prisoner’s rights under the color of law, as well as witness tampering and falsifying records to impede an investigation into the incident.
Lt. Zachary Toney, 33, was accused of repeatedly kicking and striking a prisoner who was already on the ground and handcuffed behind his back in March 2022 at the U.S. Penitentiary (USP)-McCreary in Pine Knot. In addition to injuring the prisoner, identified as “R.F.,” Toney also allegedly attempted to cover up the crime with a phony account of the incident in his official documentation—conveniently omitting that he kicked and struck the prisoner and also lying that no injuries resulted. Toney was further accused of instructing three fellow guards to write false reports neglecting to mention the force they observed him use against the victim. If convicted, Toney faces up to 10 years in federal prison for the deprivation of rights charge and up to 20 years for each of the other two charges. See: United States v. Toney, USDC (E.D. Ky.), Case No. 6:24-cr-00073.
Toney was also named in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed pro se in October 2023 by USP-McCreary prisoner Rafael D. Foster, who described being victimized in the same way on the same date by Toney and fellow guard J. Nichols—possibly in retaliation for allegedly taking a swing at a third guard with his crutch. Attorneys with the same USAO that sought the indictment against Toney also sought to dismiss Foster’s claim, arguing that the guards acted outside the scope of their employment. Toney and Nichols moved for dismissal, too, arguing that the case was filed outside the one-year statute of limitations established under governing Kentucky law. However, on July 17, 2024, the federal court for the Eastern District of Kentucky largely denied those motions. PLN will update developments as they are available. See: Foster v. United States, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125833 (E.D. Ky.).