Statement Of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara On The Conviction Of Former Rikers Island Correction Officer Brian Coll

“Today, a unanimous jury in Manhattan federal court affirmed that the protections of the U.S. Constitution extend into the walls of our prisons, including Rikers Island.  For his brutal and heartless beating of 52-year-old Ronald Spear, a sickly Rikers inmate, and his lies to cover it up, Brian Coll now stands convicted of serious federal crimes.  As the evidence at trial established, Coll killed Spear by repeatedly kicking him in the head as he lay restrained on the ground, telling him before he died not to forget who did this to him.  The FBI investigators and career prosecutors on this case did not forget.  And today, neither did the jury.”