US. Atty: Prison Guard Assaulted Prisoners With ‘Fence Treatment’

A Bayside State Prison guard from Millville was charged Friday with assaulting and punishing prisoners, including using one form of assault that mimicked a crucifixion.

John Makos, 41, of Millville, a prison guard at Bayside State Prison in Cumberland County, was arrested on Fri. Oct. 1 for allegedly assaulting and physically punishing inmates, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Makos conspired with others at Bayside State Prison to assault and punish certain inmates in a cruel and arbitrary manner by using excessive force that caused physical injury and pain to the victims during much of 2019.

“Our investigation alleges that the actions, in this case, included beatings of people without provocation or justification in violation of their civil rights,” FBI Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. said. “A badge is not a license to abuse the power it conveys or to deny the civil rights of the people in one’s custody.

According to a release, Makos and at least one other corrections officer assaulted an inmate using what was known to inmates as “the fence treatment.

One of the victim’s arms would be handcuffed to a fence in the back area of the prison’s kitchen and the other arm would be handcuffed to a swinging door so that the inmate would appear to be crucified.

 

Another inmate, working with Makos and at least one other corrections officer, moved the swinging door so that the victim inmate’s body expanded and collapsed while Makos and at least one other corrections officer delivered closed fist strikes to the victim’s body.

Makos and at least one other corrections officer established an ad hoc regime of physical punishments for actual and perceived violations of the prison’s rules and customs and meted out such punishments in a cruel and degrading manner, at times with the assistance of other inmates.

Makos and at least one other corrections officer also attempted to ensure that their victims would not report the abuse to prison authorities by leading the inmates to believe that if they reported the abuse, they would lose their kitchen jobs, the income associated with those jobs, and access to better and more plentiful food items, all of which were highly valued items within the prison.

The conspiracy to violate civil rights charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.