BLUE WALL OF SILENCE FALLS: PROSECUTION OF ROBERT BROOKS' KILLERS ENDS WITH SERGEANT'S SENTENCE
FORMER SERGEANT GLEN TROMBLY LED THE BEAT-UP OF STATE PRISON GUARDS THAT KILLED ROBERT BROOKS AND TRIED TO COVER IT UP. HE TESTIFIED FOR THE PROSECUTION AND GOT 2 YEARS
Former New York State prison Sgt. Glenn Trombly being handcuffed after being sentenced to two years in county jail for his role in leading the beat-up squad that murdered Robert Brooks at the Marcy Correctional Facility on Dec. 9, 2024. Photo credit: JB Nicholas.
UTICA, NEW YORK May 27, 2026
The sergeant who led the beat-up squad of guards who murdered Robert Brooks in an upstate New York prison in 2024 was finally sent to prison himself on Wednesday.
Former Sgt. Glenn Trombly was sentenced to two years in county jail by Oneida County judge Robert L. Bauer. Trombly pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree back on Mar. 13.
Trombly will likely serve less than two years, at most 16 months if he stays out of trouble in jail.
“I apologize to the Court. I apologize to the Brooks family,” Trombly told Bauer before he was sentenced. “I am deeply sorry for what happened.”
Trombly held the rank of sergeant and worked for the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision for 16 years. At the time the beat-up squad of guards he led killed Brooks, he was working at the Marcy Correctional Facility outside Utica.
Trombly was inside the room checking his watch and taking notes while officers under his command beat and choked Brooks to death—in front of him.
The torture and murder of Brooks was unintentionally captured on video by a body-worn video camera Trombly was wearing and body-cameras worn by three additional Marcy guards under Trombly's command inside the room that night.
While Trombly and the guards did not actually activate their body-cameras to record, video was captured anyway because the cameras were powered on and featured a fail-safe or "standby mode" that recorded video anyway—although lacking sound.
"Beat-up squads" of guards have operated largely with impunity in New York's prisons for decades. Beat-up squads were responsible for the death of Benjamin Van Zant at the Fishkill Correctional Facility in 2014 and the killing of Samuel Harrell, also at Fishkill, in 2015.
No one was ever criminally prosecuted for either killing—despite alleged investigations by state and federal prosecutors.
The Free Lance first reported the existence of Marcy's beat-up squad, and that it was led by Sgt. Trombly, days after Brooks was killed, Prison Guard 'Beat-Up Squad' Killed Robert Brooks, Operated for Years, Attorney General Letitia James's Office Knew it.
Not only did James defend Sgt. Trombly and other beat-up squad members, nurses who worked in Marcy's infirmary also covered up the abuse of prisoners for years. The squad regularly took prisoners to the infirmary to beat them because the infirmary lacked security cameras.
The nurses working the night guards killed Brooks were never criminally prosecuted or even administratively punished by the State Department of Health. They kept their nursing licenses. One, Kyle Dashnaw, even testified for one of the guards at his manslaughter trial.
Less than three months after Brooks was murdered at Marcy, guards at the Mid-State Correctional Facility, directly across the road from Marcy, killed Messiah Nantwi on Mar. 1, 2025.
Guard Jonah Levy was convicted of murder for killing Nantwi in April. Francis Chandler, the leader of the Mid-State squad, pleaded guilty to gang assault and was sentenced to four years in state prison. Other guards have also pleaded—and been given years' long prison sentences.
While state law requires the state Attorney General to investigate and prosecute the killing of prisoners in law enforcement custody, Onondaga County District Attorney William J. Fitzpatrick was appointed Special Prosecutor in the Brooks' case after James recused herself-because she was already defending some of Brooks' accused killers in lawsuits alleging they used excessive force against other prisoners.
Fitzpatrick, the Special Prosecutor, turned Trombly into his witness. He used Trombly's testimony to secure convictions of 10 other officers for murder, manslaughter and related charges—making 11 (including Trombly) the total number of guards convicted for Brooks' killing.
Former New York State prison sergeant Glenn Trombly about to testify against the guards who killed Robert Brooks. Photo credit: JB Nicholas.
David J. Kingsley III was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 25-years-to-life.
Nicholas Kieffer and Mathew J. Galliher were tried with Kingsley on manslaughter and assault but acquitted. Kieffer was also acquitted of contributing to the attempted cover-up.
Anthony Farina and Nicholas Anzalonereceived 22 years after pleading guilty to first degree manslaughter.
Christopher Walrath, who punched Brooks first, also pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He wassentenced to 15 years.
Sgt. Michael Mashaw and David Walters also pleaded guilty to manslaughter. They were sentenced to 3-to-9 and 2 1/3-to-7 years, respectively. Walters, however, wasreleased on bail pending appeal in a shocking decision.
Michael D. Fisher pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment for failing to stop Brooks' murder after a jury dead-locked on a manslaughter charge. He was sentenced to six months.
Robert Kessler also testified for the prosecution. He pleaded guilty to gang assault and was sentenced to four years—a better deal that he originally negotiated, which was for between 5-7 years.
Nicholas Gentile, was charged with evidence tampering. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor attempted evidence tampering and was sentenced to one year conditional discharge and a $250 fine, the Rome Sentinel reported.
Shea E. Schoff pleaded guilty to official misconduct for failing "to stop the assault or to seek medical assistance for Mr. Brooks." He was sentenced to one year conditional discharge.
In addition to supervising the murder of Brooks, Trombly also directed its attempted cover-up.
"I told them they should get their stories straight," Trombly testified at the joint October 2025 trial of Kingsley, Kieffer and Galliher. "I directed them several times to make alterations to their reports to justify the injuries to Mr. Brooks.”
He also explained why didn't activate his body-camera to record: "I knew if I turned my camera on people would get in trouble."
In exchange for his testimony, Fitzpatrick promised Trombly a sentence of no greater than 4 years in state prison for his plea of guilty to attempted gang assault.
But, later, after the prosecutions of all the other guards were concluded in March, Fitzpatrick agreed to allow Trombly to be sentenced to only 2 years in county jail because the guards he helped send to prison made credible threats against his life.
That was the 2 year sentence imposed by Judge Bauer on Wednesday.
When asked if his successful prosecution of the guards had shattered the blue wall of silence that has historically prevented the successful prosecution of prison guards for abusing inmates, Fitzpatrick said “I hope so.”
"I've certainly made it less palatable,” the prosecutor added. “People are going to be sitting in prison for decades. Maybe we have.”
He cautioned law enforcement that while the public should certainly expect police to be assertive in pursing law breakers, they shouldn’t do anything that "where you get worse than the people you lock up."
Meanwhile, the legacy of Brooks' murder lives on.
Systemic abuse of New York's prisoners by guards is made possible by a toothless and ineffective administrative disciplinary system that holds hearings in secret and leaves the punishment of crimes and misconduct by guards up to private arbitrators instead of public officials.
In March, The Free Lance News exclusively reported that the guards who killed Brooks had a total of 114 documented misconduct reports filed against them.
Trombly had the most: 25.
Anthony R. Farina, a senior member of Marcy's beat-up squad captured on body camera video punching Brooks repeatedly, stomping on his genitals and stuffing a rag down his throat, had the second-most: 24.
The Free Lance News sued to open prison guard disciplinary hearings up to the press and public, but a state appeals court in Albanydismissed the lawsuit in January. The Free Lance is asking New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, to hear the case. It has not yet decided whether it will
Separately, Robert Brooks' sons sued the guards and nurses as well as the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision for killing their father in violation of the US Constitution. They filed their lawsuit in Federal District Court for the Northern District of New York.
James, the state Attorney General, refused to represent all of the defendants--except Commissioner Martuscello. James asked the Court to dismiss the lawsuit against Martuscello.
Federal District Judge Anne M. Nardacci denied James's request.
Judge Nardacci found the sons' lawsuit alleged sufficient facts that, if true, establish Martuscello knew about Marcy's beat-up squad and failed to sufficiently supervise it--to ensure it didn't murder any prisoners like it murdered Brooks.
Judge Nardacci's decision relies on reporting by The Free Lance News.
Her decision concluded: “the Court finds that Plaintiff has plausibly alleged Defendant Martuscello’s deliberate indifference."
For tips or corrections, The Free Lance can be reached at jasonbnicholas@gmail.com or, if you prefer, thefreelancenews@proton.me.