NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A former Cheatham County jailer faces prison time for his role in the repeated tasing of a man who was strapped to a restraint chair.
A federal jury found Mark Bryant, formerly a Corporal at the Cheatham County jail, guilty of deprivation of rights under color of law after a four day trial.
The jury acquitted Bryant of two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of lying to the FBI.
A NewsChannel 5 investigation first showed video of 18 year old Jordan Norris being repeatedly tased while he was strapped to restraint chair in November of 2016. Video of the tasing first obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates went viral.
Norris was inside the jail after being arrested on drug charges.
The indictment against Bryant claimed he used a taser to stun Norris four times for a total of approximately 50 seconds while he was in a restraint chair.
It claimed in a second incident that occurred the same night, Bryant tased Norris for approximately 11 seconds with "no legitimate justification" after Norris was placed in handcuffs and surrounded by multiple officers.
A former Cheatham County Sergeant, Gary Ola, has already pleaded guilty to making false statements to investigators about the incident.
Initially, Sheriff Mike Breedlove said deputies followed policy, but after our story aired he ordered an investigation into what happened.
This was the second trial for Bryant. His first trial ended with a hung jury last year.
Bryant will be sentenced later this year before U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on each count and a fine of up to $250,000 according to the U.S. Attorney's office.
U.S. Attorney Donald Q. Cochran said in a statement, "The defendant's conduct in this case was detestable and offensive to every law enforcement officer who honors the badge. I want to thank the trial team and our law enforcement partners at the FBI for their outstanding efforts to ensure this individual was brought to justice."
