Terrence Pendergrass, a former Rikers Island captain who allegedly refused to help a dying mentally ill inmate who had eaten a toxic ball of cleaning powder, was found guilty of a federal civil rights charge today. As the New York Times notes, Pendergrass is the first Rikers official to be charged for a civil rights violation in over 10 years.

Jason Echevarria died in solitary confinement in 2012. According to the New York Daily News, he was given the packet of detergent "to clean up a sewage backup in his cell" and may have eaten it with hopes of being pulled out of solitary. Two guards and a pharmacist testified that they had notified Pendergrass that Echevarria was sick and vomiting, the Times reports, and Pendergrass allegedly told one of them not to bother him "unless someone is dead."

The federal charges, brought in March after the Bronx District Attorney announced it would not charge Pendergrass with a crime in the incident, allege that Pendergrass violated Echevarria's 14th-Amendment right to be free from "deliberate indifference to serious medical needs" as a prisoner.

Pendergrass faces up to 10 years in federal prison. Samuel M. Braverman, his attorney, said he plans to appeal, and blamed the verdict on the public's perception of widespread issues at Rikers and recent anti-police protests. From the Times:

"This is not a way to solve the problems at Rikers Island," he said. "It will not make Rikers better to blame one man for the problems of an institution."

He added that he thought protests about police abuse also influenced the jury.

"With all of the news and in New York City, the thousands of people protesting on very important issues, it makes it a very tough time for a law enforcement officer to be on trial," he said.

[Image via AP]