FORMER NEW YORK STATE PRISON GUARD GETS MAXIMUM SENTENCE FOR CURB-STOMPING PRISONER TO DEATH
JONAH LEVI WAS SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS FOR KILLING MESSIAH NANTWI AT THE MID-STATE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY ON MAR. 1, 2025
Jonah Levi, 40, a former New York State prison guard, was sentenced by Oneida County judge Michael Nolan to 25 years in prison for killing inmate Messiah Nantwi at the Mid-State Correctional Facility on Mar. 1, 2025. Here, he reacts to the sentence. Photo credit: JB Nicholas.
UTICA, NEW YORK May 27, 2026
A former New York State prison guard convicted of manslaughter for "curb-stomping" Messiah Nantwi to death in 2025 has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
After inflicting the fatal injuries on Nantwi, Jonah Levi was captured on body-worn camera video celebrating. Oneida County Judge Michael R. Nolan cited the damning evidence in imposing the maximum sentence on Levy Wednesday.
Levi's family and friends wrote letters to the court claiming the "real" Levi was a kind and considerate man, but Judge Nolan told Levi "the real you is the person in that body-camera."
The body-camera, Judge Nolan angrily said with his voice rising, caught Levi "fist-bumping other officers laughing and joking as Mr. Nantwi lay on a floor dying in that infirmary because of the things you and those other officers did."
After Judge Nolan imposed the sentence, a supporter of Nantwi, sitting in the spectators' gallery, commented loudly: "Grand-dad. He'll be a grandfather when he gets out."
Levi looked confused as he slowly rose unsteadily to his feet and looked at his lawyer before he was led away in handcuffs by court officers.
As the convict was led past the spectators' gallery, one of his supporters stood and repeated: "Stay strong brother. Stay strong."
Levi, clad in head-to-toe fluorescent orange (including crocs) and a black bullet proof vest, looked toward the man to acknowledge him before vanishing through a side door of the courtroom.
The 40-year-old Levi was one of 10 former New York State Correction Officers indicted for the Mar. 1, 2025 death of Nantwi, 22. An Onondaga County medical examiner determined Nantwi killing was a homicide. His head and body received almost six dozen blows.
Evidence at Levi's trial included evidence from another former guard that Levi repeatedly "curb-stomped" Nantwi's head.
Levi was convicted Apr. 1 of this year of first degree manslaughter, gang assault in the first and second degrees, fifth degree conspiracy and offering a false instrument for filing.
At the time he killed Nanti, Levy was on probation for beating another prisoner in 2023.
Nantwi's killing took place less than three months afteranother "beat-up squad" of all white New York State prison guards killed another black prisoner, Robert Brooks, at the Marcy Correctional Facility on Dec. 9, 2024.
Marcy is directly across the road from the Mid-State Correctional Facility, where Nantwi was killed on Mar. 1, 2025.
In the Brooks' case, a total of 11 former guards were convicted of crimes related to Brooks' killing or its attempted cover up. One, David J. Kingsley III, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years-to-life.
The last defendant in the Brooks case was sentenced to two years of county jail time, also on Wednesday, in the courtroom next door to Judge Nolan's. Former sergeant Glenn Trombly was the leader of the beat-up squad that killed Brooks—he also testified against the guards who did it.
Judge Nolan gave Levi the maximum sentence even though Levi apologized to Nantwi's family.
"I don't think any father should bury their son," Levi said when given a chance to speak. "I feel awful about that."
But, Levi added, he was innocent.
"I stand true to what I said I've done and stand by my paperwork," he said, meaning he only used reasonable force on Nantwi and killed him by mistake in a good-faith effort to maintain order in the prison.
In addition to having been found by prison supervisors in April 2024 to have used unlawful force against another prisoner before killing Nantwi, Special Prosecutor Onondaga County District Attorney William J. Fitzpatrick revealed in court on Wednesday that Levi "assaulted" a fellow guard he was having an affair with in November 2024.
"Not exactly the person described in the letters” Levi's supporters submitted, Fitzpatrick dryly told Judge Nolan.
No one from Nantwi's family attended Levi's trial or any of the other hearings for the other defendants in the case. On Wednesday, Fitzpatrick explained Nantwi's father couldn't come for "medical reasons."
Instead, Fitzpatrick asked Nantwi's roommate at the New York state prison where he was killed to give a victim impact statement. Michael Moon previously testified against Levi at his late-March trial.
"I don't think anything else affected me as much as this did," Moon told Judge Nolan, seated at the prosecutor's table in a green prison uniform. "Whatever how much time this guy gets, I just hope you realize how much people you hurt."
Then, speaking to Levi directly, Moon added: "I hope you definitely look back on this and find you definitely did wrong."
Before the convictions of the guards who killed Brooks and Nantwi, beat-up squads of New York State prison guards operated largely with impunity. For example, the guards who killed Samuel Harrell at the Fishkill Correctional Facility in 2025 got away with murder—despite alleged investigations by state and federal prosecutors.
After the sentencing of Levi and Trombly on Wednesday, The Free Lance News asked Fitzpatrick if he thought he'd broken the "blue wall of silence" that effectively allowed prison guards to regularly use excessive force and get away with it.
"I hope so," Fitzpatrick said. "I've certainly made it less palatable. People are going to be sitting in prison for decades.”
Highlighting the significance of the day, Christopher Martuscello, brother of the present Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, and head of the unit within DOCCS responsible for disciplining guards, also attended Levi's sentencing.
Christopher Martuscello declined to comment, except to dryly note "Its not just another day."
For tips or corrections, The Free Lance can be reached at jasonbnicholas@gmail.com or, if you prefer, thefreelancenews@proton.me.