Memphis, TN. — Joshua M. Rogers, 33, of Tennessee, was sentenced Wednesday to 56 months in federal prison for his role in destroying evidence connected to a police officer’s fatal shooting of a man identified by the initials R.H.
Court records show Rogers assisted his co-defendant, Patric J. Ferguson, who was on duty as an officer with the Memphis Police Department, when Ferguson kidnapped and fatally shot R.H. on January 5, 2021.
Prosecutors said Rogers helped Ferguson conceal the crime by purchasing chains, padlocks, and cinderblocks, which were used to weigh down the victim’s body. Rogers and Ferguson then transported the body to the Wolf River in Memphis, where it was disposed of, according to court documents.
Ferguson was previously sentenced to 38 years in prison on December 1 for his role in the killing.
The sentencing was announced by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant for the Western District of Tennessee, and Joseph E. Carrico, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Nashville Field Office.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Nashville Field Office and the Memphis Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Hartridge and Civil Rights Division trial attorneys Tenette Smith and Sarah Armstrong.
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