By Julia Marnin
The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.)
SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. — A federal correctional officer has pleaded guilty to beating a handcuffed inmate, breaking several of his ribs, in the man’s cell at a central Florida prison, prosecutors said.
Miguel Hidalgo, 34, was charged with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law in connection with the assault at FCC Coleman in Sumter County in August 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said in a Jan. 30 news release.
Hidalgo’s defense attorney, David Haas, said in a statement to McClatchy News on Jan. 31 that the inmate provoked and threatened Hidalgo, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps.
The inmate was identified in court filings as Mufid Elfgeeh, who was sentenced to more than 22 years in federal prison in 2016 for trying to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ( ISIL ), a terrorist organization, according to the FBI.
“Mr. Hidalgo is a decorated Marine Corps veteran who suffers from PTSD,” Haas said. “A convicted terrorist inmate…spit, kicked, and threatened my client who then suffered from a PTSD flashback and struck the inmate following the provocation,” Haas said.
On Aug. 22, 2022, Hidalgo entered a cell Elfgeeh shared with another inmate in the Special Housing Unit at FCC Coleman, according to Hidalgo’s plea agreement. The unit houses inmates who are considered more dangerous, away from the prison’s general population.
Elfgeeh and his cellmate were handcuffed behind their backs when Hidalgo brought a mattress to the cell and set it on a bunk, prosecutors said.
Hidalgo pushed Elfgeeh to the floor and began hitting Elfgeeh in his face and chest according to his plea agreement, which only identifies Elfgeeh as “M.E.”
When Hidalgo went to leave, Elfgeeh spit at Hidalgo and “the spit landed near Hidalgo’s chest,” prosecutors wrote in the filing.
After the cell door closed, prosecutors said Hidalgo asked to reopen the cell, then went back inside and started hitting and kicking Elfgeeh.
In a motion to have the government disclose exculpatory evidence in Hidalgo’s favor, Haas wrote Elfgeeh “was convicted as one of the first Islamic State group terrorist recruiters ever captured in the United States” and was “aware that Mr. Hidalgo was a U.S. military veteran and relentlessly provoked him.”
Hidalgo was wearing his military issued name tag from his service in the U.S. Marine Corps when he went to Elfgeeh’s cell, according to Haas.
Elfgeeh and his cellmate were upset because they didn’t receive mattresses when they were initially sent to the Special Housing Unit, Haas wrote in the motion.
“Elfgeeh was insulting Mr. Hidalgo and threatening to kill Mr. Hidalgo,” Haas wrote.
He said Hidalgo pushed Elfgeeh, who fell down and then kicked Hidalgo, in reaction to Elfgeeh lunging at him first.
Haas argued in the motion that “Elfgeeh’s violent past is relevant to the present case,” including an attempted murder case he’s facing in Kentucky in connection with another federal inmate.
An attempted murder charge is pending against Elfgeeh in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, records show.
Ultimately, Judge Philip R. Lammens denied Haas’ motion as moot in an order dated Oct. 4.
Lammens wrote that the government “paints a different picture of the events of this case.”
“We were disappointed this case was brought by the DOJ given Mr. Hidalgo’s medical condition and his service to his nation,” Haas said on behalf of Hidalgo in regards to his PTSD and status as a veteran.
“However, he is remorseful for what transpired,” Haas said.
Haas also said two other guards hit Elfgeeh during the August 2022 incident but weren’t charged.
The FBI’s investigation of Elfgeeh
Elfgeeh was a pizza shop owner in Rochester, New York when he recruited two people and tried to have them fight in Syria for ISIL while under an 18-month federal investigation, according to the FBI.
“An FBI investigation revealed that he was dangerously close to shifting from support to violent jihad on U.S. soil,” the FBI wrote in a summary of the Mufid Elfgeeh investigation.
“Killing U.S. veterans was justified in his mind,” an FBI agent who investigated Elfgeeh said.
Elfgeeh declared he stopped supporting ISIL ahead of sentencing, according to federal authorities, according to the Democrat and Chronicle.
Former U.S. Attorney William Hochul Jr ., for the western district of New York, said this was notable because ISIL tries “to create this false narrative that everyone is in favor of them,” the newspaper reported.
He pleaded guilty in December 2015 in connection with providing support to ISIL, according to the FBI.
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