Overview
- Jonah Levi was sentenced to 25 years in state prison on Wednesday after an April jury found him guilty of manslaughter, gang assault and related counts while acquitting him of second-degree murder.
- Investigators say Messiah Nantwi died from injuries sustained when guards beat him at Mid-State Correctional Facility on March 1, 2025.
- Authorities indicted ten corrections officers in the case and nine have accepted plea deals, leaving a small number of remaining sentencing hearings for officers including Caleb Blair, Craig Klemick and Thomas Eck.
- Prosecutors sought the maximum penalty for Levi while his defense urged a much shorter term, and the judge cited Levi’s failure to fulfill duties tied to his role as a corrections officer when imposing the sentence.
- The case, coming months after a separate fatal beating at nearby Marcy Correctional Facility, has intensified scrutiny of use-of-force, internal reporting and oversight across New York’s prison system and could lead to policy and investigatory changes.