The sentencing for six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to assaulting and torturing two Black men in January 2023 has been postponed again by a federal judge.

U.S. District Judge Tom Lee ruled Friday that the ex-officers would not be sentenced this month as previously scheduled but in March.

Lee delayed the sentencing hearing the first time in November to give attorneys more time to evaluate presentencing reports and prepare objections.

The five former Rankin County Sheriff’s deputies are Brett McAlpin, Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke. The sixth former police officer is Joshua Hartfield from the City of Richland.

The former officers’ hearings will proceed as follow:

• Hunter Elward — March 19

• Jeffrey Middleton — March 19

• Christian Dedmon — March 20

• Daniel Opdyke — March 20

• Josh Hartfield — March 21

• Brett McAlpin — March 21

New polices come after guilty pleas: Rankin County Sheriff updates training, policies after ‘Goon Squad’ members plead guilty

The Associated Press reported that the former officers admitted in August to subjecting Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker to numerous acts of racially motivated, violent torture.

The former “Goon Squad” officers burst into a home without a warrant and assaulted Jenkins and Parker with stun guns, a sex toy and other objects, prosecutors said in court, reading a lengthy description of the abuse, the Associated Press reported.

More on the assault of the two men: MS ex-law enforcement plead guilty to civil rights offenses against 2 Black men during raid

Based on Associated Press reporting, court documents showed the officers assaulted the men for nearly a 90-minute period. The episode culminated with one deputy placing a gun in Jenkins’ mouth and firing, which cut his tongue, broke his jaw and exited out of his neck.

The officers did not give him medical attention, instead discussing a “false cover story to cover up their misconduct,” as well as planting and tampering with evidence.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Goon Squad sentencing delayed again Rankin County MS