A former Alabama prison officer has been indicted on federal charges of assaulting three inmates and then submitting a false statement about the incident, prosecutors said Friday.

Lorenzo Mills, who worked as a sergeant at Draper prison in Elmore County, was charged in an indictment with violating the civil rights of the men by hitting them with a wooden baton in October 2020, according to court documents and a statement from the Justice Department.

Mills, 55, also was accused of later falsely writing in a statement that he hadn’t used force against the inmates, who prosecutors said weren’t resisting.

Federal court records didn’t include the name of a defense lawyer who could speak on behalf of Mills.

Mills previously was charged with assault in state court over the alleged beatings. Two of the men suffered bruises on their back side and one sustained a fractured arm, court records show.

The inmates were taken to a back gate at the prison by a corrections officer, state court documents showed. Mills allegedly confronted the men, told them to turn around and began hitting them.