Robert Brooks: Four New York prison guards plead guilty in beating death of inmate

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/22/us/robert-brooks-prison-employee-plea
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Four prison guards pleaded guilty Monday in the death of Robert Brooks, a Black inmate whose brutal beating at an upstate New York prison was captured on bodycam videos.

The pleas came two weeks before the start of trial for a group of guards accused in the death of Brooks, 43, who was pummeled while handcuffed at the Marcy Correctional Facility on December 9. The beating of the restrained man triggered outrage and calls for reform.

Four of the 10 guards indicted in February are still headed to trial October 6, including three accused of murder.


Two guards facing a top charge of murder pleaded guilty in a Utica court to a lesser charge in the indictment: first-degree manslaughter. Under the agreements, Nicholas Anzalone and Anthony Farina, who have both resigned, will be sentenced to 22 years in state prison on Nov. 21.

Brooks’ relatives welcomed what they called a measure of justice.