David Paul Merritt, 48, was sentenced to 7 years in the South Carolina Department of Corrections for throwing bodily fluids on a corrections officer. 

At the time of the incident, Merritt was serving his sentence for a prior assault and battery conviction in which he was allowed to serve his sentence on weekends.  

When Merritt arrived at the jail on May 12, 2018, he was under the influence.

He was taken to the bathroom at booking where officers ordered him to change into his confinement uniform. 

Merritt resisted and subsequently smeared feces on one of the corrections officers.  

At sentencing, the judge expressed his intent to fashion a sentence that would discourage future criminal conduct of this nature among inmates.

Merritt has multiple prior convictions for assault and battery. He was transported to the Department of Corrections to begin the immediate service of his active prison sentence.