RALEIGH, N.C. (WBTW) -- A now-former Federal Bureau of Prisons lieutenant faces up to 10 years in prison for conspiring with another officer to assault an inmate who exposed himself in front of a female colleague, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Daniel Mitchell pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiring to violate civil rights. “The defendant’s actions were an unacceptable breach of his responsibilities as a law enforcement officer,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a news release. “FBOP officers cannot take the law into their own hands, and the Justice Department will aggressively prosecute federal and local law enforcement officials who use physical force to punish inmates.” The incident took place on Dec. 8, 2021, while Mitchell was on duty as a lieutenant supervising the special housing unit at the federal medium-security prison in Butner, North Carolina. The victim, who sustained minor injuries in the assault, was an inmate under Mitchell's supervision. “Corrections Officers work in dangerous environments with limited resources and deserve our respect and gratitude,” U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley Jr. said. "But officers acting outside the law to injure an inmate erodes the rule of law, violates civil rights and puts other officers’ lives in jeopardy. We won’t tolerate misconduct in our prisons, by inmates or guards, and will take every measure to keep our institutions safe.” The incident happened after a female officer told Mitchell that she had been doing rounds in the housing unit when she saw the inmate expose himself and engage in a sexual act, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Mitchell later called another corrections officer into his office to talk about how to handle the situation. The normal disciplinary process involved a formal write-up of the alleged misconduct, but the U.S. Attorney's Office said Mitchell directed the other officer, who was not identified in the news release, to teach the inmate a lesson by “tuning him up.” During the assault, the officer hit and kicked the inmate several times and knocked him to the ground before other officers intervened and stopped the assault, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. “Rather than following the normal disciplinary process, Mitchell devised a plan to violently retaliate against an inmate,” said Special Agent in Charge Timothy C. Edmiston of the Justice Department Office of the Inspector General Mid-Atlantic Region. “This coordinated attack violated the civil rights of a defenseless inmate and broke every tenet that FBOP employees swear an oath to uphold. The Justice Department OIG is committed to protecting the civil rights of inmates and will pursue any DOJ employee who abuses their power.” The Justice Department’s Officer of Inspector General began the investigation after an officer who witnessed the assault raised concerns. Mitchell is scheduled to have a sentencing hearing on March 31.