CLEVELAND — A Cuyahoga County corrections officer will spend the next six months behind bars after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges of attempted harassment by inmate.
Austin Casto also resigned from his position with the county and agreed to never take another future job as a corrections officer, according to officials. The 24-year-old had been scheduled to face trial beginning Monday before striking a plea deal.
Casto and another man, 23-year-old Romelle Smith, were both indicted last June on five counts each of harassment by inmate. Per the initial indictment, Casto helped Smith toss unspecified bodily fluids onto five employees during a June 11 incident at the county jail. One of the victims was Warden Kevin O'Donnell.
Smith is currently in prison for at least 18 years for aggravated robbery, but was in the Cuyahoga County Jail at the time prior to his sentencing. The Euclid native pleaded guilty to all five counts in the harassment case and received his own six-month penalty that will run concurrently with his ongoing prison term.
Following his initial arrest, Casto was suspended without pay. He had been out on bond prior to Monday's guilty plea.
