Four former prison guards were sentenced to significant prison terms on Friday for their involvement in the brutal death of Robert Brooks, an incarcerated Black man whose beating at an upstate New York facility was tragically captured on body camera video.
The highly scrutinized case involves the death of Brooks, 43, who was pummelled while handcuffed at the Marcy Correctional Facility on December 9, 2024. The video footage showed the restrained man being struck in the chest with a shoe, lifted by his neck, and then violently dropped. The incident, which triggered widespread outrage and demands for correctional reform, led to charges against multiple guards.
Sentences for Plea Deals
The four defendants sentenced on Friday had all pleaded guilty in September 2025, just two weeks before their trial was set to begin.
- Nicholas Anzalone and Anthony Farina, who had both been facing a top charge of murder, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter. They were each sentenced to a lengthy 22-year term in state prison.
- Michael Mashaw, charged with second-degree manslaughter, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three to nine years in prison.
- David Walters, also charged with second-degree manslaughter, pleaded guilty and received a sentence of two years, four months to seven years.
Victim’s Family Calls for Accountability
During the sentencing hearing, prosecutors read powerful statements from Brooks’ relatives. The victim had been serving a 12-year sentence for first-degree assault since 2017 and had been transferred to Marcy from a nearby lockup on the night he was fatally beaten.
Brooks’ brother, Jared Ricks, wrote that he hopes the four defendants receive more grace from the “welcoming committee” when they arrive in state prison as incarcerated people than they showed his brother.
His son, Robert Brooks Jr., wrote that watching the video of his father’s fatal beating was like watching a horror movie, adding a plea for change: “I pray this case teaches others that they can’t treat incarcerated people like animals.”
Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, who is serving as the special prosecutor in this case, noted that the family members were not allowed to read their statements aloud due to objections from the defense attorneys after a failure to file the necessary paperwork.
Broader Case and Other Trials
The sentences for these four guards follow earlier legal actions against their colleagues:
- Christopher Walrath, who resigned, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in May 2025 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison in August 2025.
- Another guard pleaded guilty to attempted tampering with physical evidence and received a one-year conditional discharge.
- Last month, the trial for three other guards concluded with the jury convicting David Kingsley on both murder and first-degree manslaughter charges. Kingsley faces a potential life sentence when he is sentenced later. The other two guards, Mathew Galliher and Nicholas Kieffer, were acquitted.
- The final guard charged, Michael Fisher, is scheduled to stand trial in January on a second-degree manslaughter charge.
Fitzpatrick is also prosecuting guards involved in a separate March 1 fatal beating of Messiah Nantwi at the Mid-State Correctional Facility, another lockup in the Marcy area. In that case, eight guards have reached plea deals, and five others, including two charged with murder, are scheduled to stand trial in March. Both prisons are located about 180 miles (290 kilometers) northwest of New York City.