Patric J. Ferguson is a former Memphis Police Department officer who was sentenced in the United States to 38 years in prison on 1 December 2025. The sentence followed federal civil-rights, firearms, kidnapping and obstruction charges connected to the fatal shooting of a man identified in federal material by the initials R.H.
The case is notable because the Justice Department said Ferguson was on duty as a police officer when he kidnapped and fatally shot R.H. on 5 January 2021, then worked with Joshua M. Rogers to conceal the killing.
Background
Ferguson had been an officer with the Memphis Police Department. Federal prosecutors said he and R.H. knew each other, but public Justice Department material did not give a full motive for the killing.
The case began after R.H. disappeared in January 2021. Local reporting and prosecution material described a sequence in which R.H. was taken, killed and later found near the Wolf River area in Memphis.
Federal Case
The United States Department of Justice announced on 1 December 2025 that Ferguson had been sentenced to 38 years in prison. According to the Justice Department, documents filed with his plea established that he kidnapped and fatally shot R.H. while on duty.
The same DOJ release said Ferguson then conspired with Joshua M. Rogers to cover up the shooting by disposing of R.H.'s body in the Wolf River and selling the vehicle used to transport the body to a scrap-metal company.
Joshua Rogers
Joshua M. Rogers was Ferguson's co-defendant. DOJ material states that Rogers helped Ferguson destroy evidence after the fatal shooting. A later DOJ release said Rogers was sentenced to 56 months in prison for his role.
The Rogers sentencing release also confirmed that Ferguson had been sentenced to 38 years on 1 December 2025.
Significance
The Ferguson case is an example of a police-abuse prosecution in which the central conduct happened while the officer was on duty. The Justice Department framed the case as a civil-rights matter as well as a kidnapping, firearms and obstruction case.
Because the criminal proceedings resulted in federal sentences, Ferguson is no longer described only as accused in relation to the federal case. Older references to ongoing federal proceedings are outdated.
References
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