Three upstate prison guards are facing charges for allegedly beating an inmate from the city and then trying to cover it up.
Federal prosecutors say Kevin Moore was attacked at the Downstate Correctional Facility in Dutchess County back in November 2013.
They say he was being transferred to Rikers Island for a court proceeding when a sergeant and two guards placed him in a mental health unit overnight.
When Moore questioned the officers, they allegedly beat him.
Moore was hospitalized for 17 days with five fractured ribs, a collapsed lung and fractures in his face.
"The charged officers struck Moore with wooden batons, punched him repeatedly in the face and ribs, kicked him in the head and the groin, and even ripped dreadlocks off his head, one allegedly picking up the ripped dreadlocks from the floor, saying that he wanted to save them as a trophy," said Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York.
The indictment against the officers also accuses them of covering up the beating by claiming Moore attacked one of the guards.
Calls to their lawyers were not immediately returned.