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FORMER PULASKI COUNTY JAILER PLEADS GUILTY TO CHARGE OF LYING TO FBI AGENTS - CHARGES OF SEXUAL ABUSE OF INMATE DROPPED DESPITE PENDING CIVIL SUIT

SCOTT HAZEL - SEXUALLY ASSAULTED FEMALE INMATE AND LIED TO FBI AGENTS  

Scott Hazel, a former supervisor at the Pulaski County jail pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of making a false statement to FBI agents during a civil-rights investigation into a report that he had sexually abused Jessica Linda Suarez, a female inmate in 2014 and 2015.

JESSICA LINDA SUAREZ

In return for his guilty plea to the newly filed charge, an original charge of sexual abuse of Suarez that Scott Hazel had faced since his indictment on December 2, 2015, was dropped.  A jury trial on the sexual abuse charge had been set to begin June 12 in the courtroom of Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Miller.

CHIEF U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE BRIAN MILLER

However, a civil lawsuit filed on behalf of Suarez, the woman Hazel is accused of forcibly having sex with in the jail on numerous occasions, is to begin September 12th before U.S. District Judge Billy Roy Wilson. 

U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE BILLY ROY WILSON

The lawsuit accuses Hazel of battery, sexual assault and wrongful imprisonment. It alleges that the county and Holladay failed to exercise their constitutional duty to protect Suarez by creating "an atmosphere where illegal and unconstitutional behavior is tolerated and accepted."

The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and attorney's fees.

Hazel, accompanied by defense attorney Ron Davis of Little Rock, stood before Miller on Friday morning and listened to Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Peters read a set of stipulated facts in the criminal case that Hazel then agreed were correct.



According to those facts, which are contained in a written plea agreement, the FBI was investigating Hazel, a classification sergeant at the jail, in connection with allegations that he had deprived Suarez, a federal inmate, of her civil rights while she was being held at the jail. In an interview on Sept. 15, 2015, agents asked Hazel about an incident on the evening of Feb. 6, 2015, when he checked Suarez out of her assigned place of detention and took her to a private office.

Hazel told the agents Suarez was a confidential informant and that he took her to the private office to show her photographs of potentially corrupt guards, according to the stipulation. "In fact," the document states, "Hazel was not using Suarez as a confidential informant, and Hazel did not show Suarez photos of guards. When Hazel made this statement, he knew it was false."
Lt. Cody Burk, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, said Friday that Hazel resigned Oct. 13, 2015, while under investigation. 


 
LT. CODY BURK - PRANKSTER AND PUBLIC RELATIONS PURVEYOR

A resignation keeps Hazel's personnel file from prying eyes.  Shenanigans.

The plea agreement stipulates that when Hazel is sentenced, he will face a six-level enhancement under federal sentencing guidelines "because the offense was committed under the color of law."
 
Federal sentencing table indicates Hazel is facing at least six months in prison. However, the agreement also states that the government won't oppose a probationary sentence if the judge determines one is appropriate.

In the civil case, attorneys Kathryn Hudson and Justin Huett of Little Rock said Suarez was subjected to civil-rights violations beginning April 18, 2014, while being held in the jail as a federal inmate.

KATHRYN HUDSON & JUSTIN HUETT - ATTORNEYS FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTED INMATE

Suarez was eventually transferred to a federal prison to begin serving a five-year sentence for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine. She is to be released in October 23rd.



The lawsuit alleges that in November 2014, Hazel entered Suarez's cell and attempted to touch her sexually, but she refused his advances, and he instructed another jailer to move her to a different cell. It states, "Over the course of several months ... Hazel engaged in forced sexual intercourse with" Suarez.



During that time, the suit alleges, "Hazel threatened Suarez with harm if she reported him, and continually transferred Suarez between units at the Pulaski County Detention Center."

As a result, it says, she has suffered physical and emotional injuries, as well as medical expenses.

The lawsuit contends that jailers have a "code of silence" in which they won't report each other's misconduct and fail to take steps to stop it. As a result, it says, "deputies act unconstitutionally without fear of discipline."

 
That "Code of Silence" is an integral component of the Good Ole Boy System.



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