A former sergeant at a privately-run Louisiana prison has pleaded guilty to covering up an incident in which he and other guards used a chemical spray on five kneeling, handcuffed inmates.
    
Thirty-three-year-old Demario Shaffer was among five Richwood Correctional Center officers and guards indicted in March. Trial is scheduled April 15 for the others.
    
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release Wednesday that Shaffer pleaded guilty Monday in court in Monroe to one count of conspiring to falsify documents to obstruct and influence a matter within federal jurisdiction.
    
District Judge Terry Doughty scheduled sentencing May 1. Shaffer could get up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
    
Richwood Correctional Center is a medium-security prison run by LaSalle Corrections in the Ouachita (WASH-uh-tah) Parish town of Richwood.