NEW YORK >> The first Rikers Island correction officer to be tried for civil rights abuses in more than a decade was found guilty on Wednesday by a jury for his role in the death of an inmate in 2012.

Terrence Pendergrass could serve up to 10 years in federal prison for refusing to seek medical attention for Jason Echevarria, 25, a pretrial detainee, who cried out for help after swallowing a highly toxic packet of detergent that burned through his digestive tract.

Pendergrass was found guilty of one charge of violating the constitutional right of a prisoner to receive attention for serious medical needs. His lawyer, Samuel M. Braverman, said he would appeal the decision, which was handed down in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

As the jury announced its decision, Pendergrass, a former Rikers captain who was later demoted and then suspended without pay, slammed the table with his fist, and members of his family burst into tears.

Two officers and a pharmacist all testified that they had told Pendergrass that Echevarria seemed to be very sick when they saw him on Aug. 18, 2012; he was vomiting in his cell and complained of extreme pain.

Pendergrass told Raymond Castro, one of the officers, "Don’t bother me unless someone is dead," Castro told the jury.

The next morning, Echevarria was found dead in his cell. An autopsy would later reveal that the chemicals had burned through tissue in his mouth, throat and stomach.

The charge against Pendergrass was deemed a civil rights violation because the due process clause of the 14th Amendment guarantees inmates the right to be free of deliberate indifference to medical needs.

In order to convict, the jury had to find that Pendergrass had deliberately and willfully acted or failed to act to deprive Echevarria of his constitutional rights.

"The jury unanimously found that Pendergrass violated Jason Echevarria’s constitutional rights by deliberately ignoring his pleas for help and depriving him of urgent medical care, leaving Echevarria to die alone in his cell," the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, said in a statement. "Echevarria should not have died, and the convictions of individual wrongdoers at Rikers Island — as well as the systemic, institutionwide reforms we are pursuing — should help prevent tragedies like Echevarria’s death from occurring again."

The government built its case for willful deprivation with videos of Pendergrass’ brief visit to Echevarria’s cell, where, despite the inmate’s deteriorating condition, he reportedly found nothing amiss; his statements to Castro; and his instructions to another officer to end his phone call to the health clinic.

Ramon Echevarria, Jason Echevarria’s father, said: "Today is a sad day. Nobody wins, and nobody loses. We got justice for my son, and we keep moving on, but we can’t bring him back.

"This man is going to jail, and my son is buried. There’s nothing else we can do."

Echevarria’s family has sued the city in federal court in Manhattan; Joshua D. Kelner, a lawyer for the family, said the verdict shows that "Mr. Pendergrass operated within a culture where someone with that attitude can be promoted to captain, and where everybody stood by and watched this man do nothing, and held his orders as a fiat."

Braverman said he thought the verdict was not supported by the evidence.

He also said that he thought the jury was trying to compensate for other systemic issues at Rikers, which he said should have had no bearing on this case.

"This is not a way to solve the problems at Rikers Island," he said. "It will not make Rikers better to blame one man for the problems of an institution."

He added that he thought protests claiming police abuse also influenced the jury.

"With all of the news and in New York City, the thousands of people protesting on very important issues, it makes it a very tough time for a law enforcement officer to be on trial," he said.

At the end of the proceeding, Pendergrass, who is due in court for sentencing on April 17, approached Ramon Echevarria. They shared a few quiet words and went their separate ways.

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