FORT SMITH, Ark. — A former Arkansas law enforcement officer who pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of a man he repeatedly punched during a violent arrest caught on video in 2022 will be serving time in a federal prisons medical facility.

U.S. District Judge Susan O. Hickey on Wednesday sentenced former Crawford County sheriff’s Deputy Levi White to 63 months, with credit for time served, and ordered that he be confined at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, according to court documents.

Hickey recommended that White receive medical health counseling and treatment while confined at the facility in Springfield, Missouri, and be put on two years of supervised release.

White in April pleaded guilty to a felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law during the Aug. 21, 2022, arrest of Randal Worcester outside a convenience store.

White and another former deputy, Zackary King, were charged by federal prosecutors last year for the arrest. A bystander used a cellphone to record the arrest in the small town of Mulberry, about 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, near the border with Oklahoma. Video of the arrest was shared widely online.

King, who also pleaded guilty, was scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday.

An attorney for White did not respond to a message late Wednesday afternoon.

A third officer caught in the video, Mulberry Police Officer Thell Riddle, was not charged in the federal case. King and White were fired by the Crawford County sheriff. The video depicted King and White striking Worcester as Riddle held him down. White also slammed Worcester’s head onto the pavement.

Police have said Worcester was being questioned for threatening a clerk at a convenience store in the nearby small town of Alma when he tackled one of the deputies and punched him in the head before the arrest. Worcester is set to go to trial in February on charges related to the arrest, including resisting arrest and second-degree battery.

Worcester filed a lawsuit in 2022 against the three officers, the city of Mulberry and Crawford County over the arrest. But that case has been put on hold while the criminal cases related to the arrest are ongoing.

A homophobic Republican politician in Arkansas not only confirmed he said the LGBTQ+ community is “of the devil” in a recent sermon posted to social media, but also embraced the comments. The video clip has since gone viral.

Jason Rapert, the man responsible for the comments, is a former state senator most recently appointed to the Arkansas State Library Board. The video was uncovered and posted to X, formerly Twitter, by Right Wing Watch.

“The LGBTQ movement in the country is of the devil,” Rapert said at the beginning of the 38-second clip, beginning his comments with an anti-trans slur.

“That’s right,” one member of the congregation said, as others murmured in agreement

“Period. Of the devil,” Rapert continued. “So you don’t need to be supporting people or voting for people that do things of the devil.”

“That’s exactly right,” an attendee said in approval.

“Amen,” said another.

“There’s no way a real Christian can do that,” Rapert said, before looking at the camera. “I don’t know if you’re live-streaming this or not. I’m telling all of you today: you cannot be a Christian and vote for people that do the devil’s work. You can’t do it.

Rather than shy away from the public spotlight on his anti-LGBTQ+ comments, Rapert embraced the controversy in a post to X Twitter.

“I am Jason Rapert and YES I endorse this message from my recent sermon,” Rapert said in a post to X Twitter on Monday.

Rapert is a former State Senator from 2011 to 2023 representing Arkansas’s 18th and later the 35th districts. He is also the founder and president of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers.

Rapert was appointed to the Arkansas State Library Board by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. He made headlines recently after attempting to use the board to withhold state funds for libraries suing the state in opposition to Act 372, which requires libraries to segregate LGBTQ+ books deemed offensive by some community members, the Arkansas Advocate reported at the time.

He tried but was prevented from reading an excerpt All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson at a board meeting in August. He claimed the book was pornography and inappropriate for children.

“We do not ban books on this board,” board member Shari Bales, another Sanders appointee, told Rapert during heated discussions.

“I will never vote for censorship.” board member Pamela Meredith told Rapert at another point in the meeting.

Later in the same meeting, Rapert said he had been contacted by state politicians wanting to disband the board unless they approved his proposals.

“And unless the board acts, I say, amen, destroy it and put it in the hands of somebody who knows you shouldn’t be putting pornography in front of children,” Rapert warned.

Another week of the 2024 Arkansas high school football season has concluded, and High School on SI is continuing its weekly computer rankings for the season.

The Fayetteville Bulldogs found their way to the top four of this week’s 7A computer rankings after coming out on top in a close 41-38 victory over Rogers last week. The Bulldogs look to continue their success Friday when they host Northside.

SBLive’s formula was created using its linear algebra-based ranking algorithm inspired by the Colley Bias-Free Ranking Method. Colley’s Method was created by Wes Colley, Ph.D., an astrophysicist at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. He devised his algorithm to help address the subjectivity and controversy regarding BCS college football selections in the 1990s and early 2000s, using a method that used no subjective variables.

• FAQ: SBLive High School Football Computer Rankings

Here are SBLive’s latest Arkansas football computer rankings, as of Oct. 7, 2024:

ARKANSAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COMPUTER RANKINGS

CLASS 7A | CLASS 6A

CLASS 5A | CLASS 4A

CLASS 3A | CLASS 2A

CLASS 8 MAN

— Ben Dagg | @sblivesports