Prison guard gets 20 years in inmate death

A former state corrections officer was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in federal prison for his role in the beating death of a prison inmate in May 2018.

Alex Banta, 31, of Quincy was “caught up in the culture” of silence surrounding physically assaulting inmates but there was no excuse for his treatment of 65-year-old Larry Earvin at Western Illinois Correctional Center, said U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough.

In a statement to the court, Banta took responsibility for his actions, but said rough treatment of prisoners was not only condoned but expected at the prison in Mount Sterling.

A jury convicted Banta in April 2022 of conspiracy to deprive civil rights, deprivation of civil rights, obstruction of an investigation, falsification of documents and misleading conduct.

Myerscough sentenced him to 15 years on the civil rights charges and five years on the other counts, to run consecutively.

Earvin’s beating on May 17, 2018, resulted in 15 broken ribs and abdominal injuries so severe that a portion of his bowel was surgically removed. He died June 26.