MONROE, La. (AP) - Five former corrections officers at a Louisiana prison have been indicted on charges they conspired to assault handcuffed inmates and submitted false reports on the incident.

The former officers at the Richwood Correctional Center in Ouachita Parish were charged in a seven-count federal indictment that was unsealed on Thursday. The Justice Department said the defendants made their initial court appearances on Thursday.

They are 37-year-old Roderick Douglas, 35-year-old Christopher Loring, 33-year-old Demario Shaffer, 26-year-old Quintail Credit and 27-year-old David Parker. Information on their defense attorneys wasn't immediately available.

The indictment says the guards sprayed a chemical agent into the faces of five handcuffed inmates kneeling on the floor in an area of the prison without surveillance cameras. Richwood Correctional Center is a private prison operated by LaSalle Corrections.