Carlton Benton
Carlton Benton, 24, died on June 1, 2004, while in the custody of the Lucas County Jail in Toledo, Ohio. A federal grand jury indictment returned in April 2009 alleges that a deputy assaulted and strangled him on May 30, 2004, and that other officers hid what happened and lied to the FBI. Sheriff James Telb and an internal affairs investigator were acquitted, while a retired jail sergeant was convicted of falsifying documents and of violating Benton's civil rights by not getting him medical help after a sleeper hold was put on him, and a retired deputy was convicted of falsifying documents. In 2017 the county agreed to pay his family $750,000, plus $500,000 in legal fees and expenses.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by staff (disputed; neglect alleged). A federal indictment alleges a deputy assaulted and strangled Benton at the Lucas County Jail, and later federal prosecutors said a sergeant left him without medical help after a sleeper hold; the official account of a scuffle with deputies is contested by federal prosecutors.
Reported by: U.S. Department of Justice (federal indictment) (outside investigators); investigators.
Lawsuit: His family sued Lucas County over his death, and in 2017 the county agreed to pay them $750,000 plus $500,000 in legal fees and expenses.