LAFAYETTE -- A south Louisiana sheriff and one of his top lieutenants have been indicted on federal charges over the alleged beatings of five jail inmates.

Wednesday's indictment says Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal directed officers to assault inmates in the jail's chapel, where no video surveillance cameras would record the beatings on April 29, 2011.

The indictment says Ackal and Gerald Savoy, a supervisor at the sheriff's office, watched as officers used batons to beat an inmate who didn't pose any threat.

Eight former employees of the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office already have pleaded guilty to related federal charges.

Ackal and Savoy are charged with conspiracy and deprivation of rights under color of law. They didn't immediately respond to a message left at the sheriff's office Thursday.