Illinois prison guard gets 20 years for inmate beating death

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A former Illinois state corrections officer was sentenced on Thursday to 20 years in federal prison for his role in the beating death of a prison inmate in May 2018.

Alex Banta, 31, of Quincy was “caught up in the culture” of silence surrounding violence against inmates but there was no excuse for his treatment of 65-year-old Larry Earvin at Western Illinois Correctional Center, U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough said.