JAIL GUARDS PLEAD GUILTY

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Two jail guards pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal civil
rights charges for fatally beating a recovering heroin addict in his cell.

Guards Patrick Regnier and Edward Velazquez entered the pleas after a third
guard admitted he served as the lookout and said he would testify against
them. Regnier and Velazquez could receive three to 30 years in prison.

Inmate Thomas Pizzuto was crying out for his methadone treatment last
January while serving 90 days in the Nassau County Jail for traffic
violations. Velazquez admitted that he went to Pizzuto's cell "to quiet him
down and use unreasonable force if necessary."

Pizzuto suffered a seizure and died three days after the beating.

The third guard, Ivano Bavaro, pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy and
witness tampering.