LANSING – On Friday, former corrections officer Christopher Cluley, 48, of Mount Pleasant, pleaded to one count each of aggravated assault and willful neglect of duty for the in-custody jailhouse assault of an Isabella County man, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
Each conviction is a 1-year misdemeanor punishable additionally or alternatively with a $1,000 fine. Per his plea agreement, Cluley had to sign an affidavit of decertification and agreement to not recertify as a corrections officer, which means he will never again work as a corrections officer in Michigan.
”Corrections officers have a sworn obligation to protect those in their custody and must be held accountable when they break their oaths,” Nessel said. “I applaud the Isabella County Sheriff’s Department, the Michigan State Police, and my prosecutors for their efforts that made today’s plea possible.”
In April 2020, Cluley was working in the Isabella County Jail as the administrator in charge when he interacted with an inmate during a cell transfer. The transfer was the result of a verbal disagreement between the inmate and another corrections officer.
Once the inmate was standing just outside of the cell, video evidence shows Cluley grabbed the inmate, spun him around and pushed him into the cell door before then pushing him into the wall next to the cell door. Then, after walking the inmate to the new cell, Cluley pushed the inmate to the ground, where the inmate cried out in pain upon crashing to the floor.
An x-ray later determined the inmate suffered a fractured left knee.
Cluley was placed on administrative leave while the Isabella County Sheriff’s Department conducted an internal investigation. The Isabella County Sheriff’s Department then contacted the Michigan State Police, and MSP’s Special Investigation Section completed their own investigation and referred the matter to the Department of Attorney General’s Public Integrity Unit.
He will be sentenced on June 20 in 21st Circuit Court in Mt. Pleasant before Judge Eric Janes.
