Two ex-prison guards get probation for beating inmate
Two former guards at Columbia Correctional Institution were sentenced to probation Friday for beating an inmate and lying about it in a report.
Russell Goldsmith, 64, of Westfield, pleaded no contest to abuse of a penal facility resident and misconduct in public office, both felonies. Columbia County Circuit Judge Andrew Voigt imposed sentences of 18 months' probation on each count. Goldsmith was also ordered to pay more than $700 in costs.
Michael Thompson, 47, of Reedsburg, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and resisting or obstructing an officer. He had originally been charged with felony misconduct in public office. Voigt sentenced Thompson to a year of probation.
According to the charges:
Last fall, an inmate spit on Goldsmith through an opening in his cell. The next day, Oct. 26, 2018, Goldsmith entered the inmate's cell with a shield, knocked him to the floor and beat him up.
But he and Thompson submitted reports indicating they had gone into the cell only after they saw the inmate apparently hanging himself with a sheet, and acted in self-defense when, after they entered, the inmate got up and took a fighting stance. The inmate said his fingers were twisted and he was choked enough that he couldn't speak immediately to say what really had happened. Goldsmith, a 10-year veteran of the Department of Corrections, and Thompson, a four-year DOC employee, were both placed on administrative leave the day of the incident. Goldsmith resigned the following month before the DOC investigation was complete.
Thompson was fired in December after the investigation was finished.