(WWJ) – Four sheriff’s deputies in West Michigan have been sentenced to 100 hours of community service and a $1,000 fine for their role in the death of a Muskegon County Jail inmate.
Deputies Jeffrey Patterson, Crystal Greve, Jamal Lane and David Vanderlaan each pleaded no contest to willful neglect charges in the 2019 death of Paul Bulthouse, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Thursday.
Bulthouse was booked into the jail on March 22, 2019 on a probation violation. Officials say his health began deteriorating shortly thereafter.
Bulthouse had been placed on suicide watch and was being monitored for drug and alcohol withdrawal symptoms and mental health issues, according to the AG’s office. Surveillance video captured him suffering from around 18 seizures the night of April 3, 2019 and into the early morning hours the next day.
Officials say the lack of response from the deputies was also captured on video. Throughout the evening, Patterson, Greve, Lane, and Vanderlaan can be seen conducting quick, in-person checks into Bulthouse’s cell, as well as observing his cell through the closed-circuit monitor.
At no point did any of the deputies attempt to ensure medical care for the prisoner, according to the AG’s office.
Around the time of the deputy shift change at 6 a.m., Bulthouse was discovered lying unclothed on the floor of his jail cell in a pool of his own urine. The discovery was made by a different Muskegon County deputy who had not been assigned to Bulthouse’s floor during the prisoner’s distress.
Bulthouse’s approximate time of death is reported to have been around 5:30 that morning.
Despite public statements in support of the deputies, the Muskegon County Sheriff’s Office made several significant changes in response to the charges, including instituting new policies to provide for better care and custody of those held in the jail.
Muskegon County also changed its medical service provider for the treatment of its inmates and the sheriff’s office now requires all deputies to wear body cameras and microphones, including those deputies working inside the jail, to ensure accountability and increase transparency.
Nessel’s office is also working with state lawmakers to require jail correction staff to meet accreditation standards; strengthen consequences, including termination, for when jail correction staff do not meet or violate those standards; and ceate a list of convictions that would prohibit a person from serving as jail correction staff.
“I remain committed to protecting all residents of the State of Michigan, including those in the custody of law enforcement,” Nessel said, per a press release. “Every person deserves to be treated with care and dignity, and to have the sanctity of their life valued, and we are committed to ensuring that our laws and law enforcement officials reflect the highest standards.”
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