Three Miami-Dade correctional officers were sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to the brutal, deadly beating of an inmate in 2022.
Christopher Rolon, Kirk Walton, and Jeremy Godbolt were three out of four officers arrested in connection to the death of 60-year-old Ronald Ingram, who was found dead with more than 20 broken ribs and internal bleeding.
Prosecutors claimed the officers were upset Ingram threw urine at them.
“I’m not guilty of murder. I’m not guilty of murder,” said Walton from the inmate gallery as he tried to convince a judge to not sentence him to 20 years and urged for her to withdraw his plea deal.
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Walton, Godbolt, and Rolon accepted the deal earlier this year, in exchange for their testimony in the trial of a fourth officer, Ronald Connor.
After hearing Walton, Godbolt, and Rolon's testimony and all of the evidence, jurors acquitted Connor of murder and only found him guilty of negligence. Connor is a free man.
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Now, Walton and Rolon sought to take back their plea deals.
“You want to file a motion to withdraw your plea now?” asked Judge Teresa Pooler to Rolon.
“Yes,” Rolon responded as he surprisingly handed the judge a motion.
Despite their requests, Judge Pooler denied their motions.
“You had every opportunity in the world. Now perhaps one of your codefendants went to trial and was found guilty of something lesser maybe you are reconsidering. That is not my problem,” Judge Pooler said.
Godbolt's family was shaken by the reality that their loved one won't be coming home until about 18 years, since he was granted credit for the time he’s been in jail.
“Know that my son would never do to intentionally harm someone or take someone’s life, 'cause I knew my son,” said Quinsette Godbolt, Godbolt’s mother.
Judge Pooler added the crime was heinous and horrible. She added that if it weren’t for the deals and the jury’s acquittal, she would have sentenced them all to life in prison.
“That man died in the worst way possible by himself in pain in a prison vehicle chained up,” Judge Pooler said.
