IONIA, MI – Following a day-long preliminary hearing on May 23rd, a judge dismissed felony charges against four former correction officers at an Ionia prison in connection with the 2024 alleged beating of an inmate who was left with a broken back and other injuries.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Ionia District Judge Raymond Voet dismissed felony charges of misconduct in office against 33-year-old Ray Thomas Rubley, 39-year-old Andrew Ray Carr, 44-year-old Al-Ani Mustafa, and 23-year-old Jordan Thomas Csernyik.
Misdemeanor charges of aggravated assault remain pending against the four defendants, who worked at Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility, a state prison operated by the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Voet rejected the prosecution’s request to send the charges to Ionia County Circuit Court and said from the bench that the prosecution failed to show the officers had corrupt intent when they allegedly beat inmate John Paul Callaghan, 27, on July 7, 2024. During the incident, the officers reacted immediately after Callaghan assaulted Csernyik by striking him with a tray of food.
Court records show that Callaghan was sentenced to another 18 months to five years in prison in December, on top of the time he was already serving, after pleading guilty to assaulting Csernyik that same day. However, in response to the attack on the officer, Ionia County Prosecutor Kyle Butler said that the alleged beating left Callaghan with a broken back, a broken hand, and broken facial bones.
Butler said, “Uncontroverted testimony from the MDOC expert supported that each defendant violated MDOC policy and use of force police in various ways and degrees when handling the inmate.”
Butler said that according to a report from the Michigan State Police, which investigated the incident, Callaghan told investigators that on the day of the assaults, Callaghan’s cellmate said he planned to rape Callaghan. He told investigators that the motivation to assault an officer was to get sent to segregation and be safe from the cellmate.
Jeffrey Foldie, a Bay City attorney representing Carr and Csernyik said that the alleged beating, which included punches, knee strikes, and deployment of a Taser, lasted less than 30 seconds. He said that Callaghan was preventing handcuffs from being applied and the officers responded according to their training. At the conclusion of the hearing on May 23rd, Foldie said, “Today was a good day for the defense, the law enforcement community, and the community of Ionia.”
Prosecution witnesses included Callaghan, three MDOC employees, and a Michigan State Police Sergeant. The prosecutions also showed a video of the incident. All four officers, who had been free on bond and suspended from their jobs without pay, were fired by the department this month, following a disciplinary conference.
The Michigan Corrections Organization union is filing grievances on behalf of the officers and taking the issue to arbitration in an effort to have the officers reinstated. The judge instructed Butler to set a date for a pretrial conference on the remaining misdemeanor charges or dismiss them. Foldie said he hopes the charges would be dismissed because the question of criminal intent is relevant to both charges.
