CLAYTON COUNTY, GA — A former Clayton County jailer has admitted to tasing an inmate at least six times without any justification.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia says 29-year-old Jabin Bethea entered a guilty plea on charges related to the May 2024 assault.

“Corrections officers work long hours in challenging circumstances to maintain order in our district’s jails and prisons, but wanton abuse cannot be tolerated,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “This former officer must be held accountable for using excessive force against a detainee who was complying with his orders and was not acting violently.”

According to Hertzberg, the charges, and information presented in court says, “on May 16, 2024, while employed as a correctional officer at the Clayton County Jail in Jonesboro, Georgia, Jabin Bethea was transferring two detainees between housing units. One of the detainees asked Bethea, “Where am I going?” In response, Bethea handcuffed that detainee and told him to shut up. The two argued on the way to the second housing unit before Bethea removed the detainee’s handcuffs and dared the detainee “to buck.”

Officials add after the detainee “cursed and insulted Bethea, Bethea slammed the detainee’s head into a wall, threw him on the floor, and ordered him to put his hands behind his back.”

Officials say the case is being investigated by the FBI.

Sentencing Bethea is scheduled for March 10, 2026 at 11:00, before U.S. District Judge Tiffany R. Johnson.