ATLANTA (AP) _ A Georgia inmate who says he was beaten while handcuffed claims in a federal lawsuit that he was the victim of a “sadistic and brutal” attack by prison guards.

Terrance Dean’s attorneys filed the lawsuit this week in federal court. It says Macon State Prison authorities routinely brought prisoners to a gymnasium with no video surveillance to beat them.

The lawsuit names seven Macon State Prison guards who were previously charged by state investigators with aggravated battery and violation of oath of office in Dean’s beating. A grand jury in Macon County last year declined to indict them on the charges.

The lawsuit says the December 2010 beating left Dean in a coma and that he’s still struggling to recover.

State prison officials declined to comment on the pending litigation.