A former Memphis police officer will spend 38 years in federal prison after admitting to kidnapping and killing a man while on patrol, then conspiring to dispose of the victim’s body in a river.
Patric J. Ferguson, 34, was sentenced Tuesday for multiple offenses, including civil rights violations, kidnapping, and obstruction of justice related to the 2021 murder of a man identified in court documents only as R.H.
The Department of Justice described the crime as a deliberate act of violence committed under the authority of Ferguson’s police position.
“This defendant committed a premeditated murder while using his position as a police officer, not to protect the Memphis community, but to perpetrate this horrendous crime and shield himself from suspicion and liability,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
Court records detail that on January 5, 2021, Ferguson kidnapped R.H. while on duty and fatally shot him. He then enlisted an acquaintance, Joshua M. Rogers, to help destroy evidence.
Investigators say the pair dumped R.H.’s body in the Wolf River and sold the vehicle used in the crime to a scrap metal company to hide it.
“This defendant tarnished his badge and undermined this community’s faith in law enforcement,” said U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant for the Western District of Tennessee. “Our office remains committed to protecting our communities from any and all abuses of power.”
Rogers, Ferguson’s co-defendant, pleaded guilty on May 8 to obstruction charges for his role in the cover-up and is scheduled for sentencing on December 17.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Nashville Field Office in cooperation with the Memphis Police Department.
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