Now the family of the man they had helped was serving them food in gratitude.
Sheriff Moats wanted to do something more tangible as well.
He decided their actions should affect the amount of time they would spend behind bars.
Their Sentences Were Shortened
This is another part of the story that is often simplified online.
Many viral versions say each man had his sentence reduced by exactly 25 percent.
Contemporary reports did describe the reduction as roughly one quarter, but the actual local system was a little more specific.
Sheriff Moats told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that inmates in the Polk County jail normally received credit for two days served for every one actual day in jail.
Those volunteering for work detail could receive three days of credit for every day served.
For these six men, Moats said he would give them four days of credit for every one day served.
That effectively shortened their remaining jail time.
Other outlets summarized the benefit as approximately a 25 percent sentence reduction.
Moats explained that the jail sometimes awarded additional credit when trustees or work crews went far beyond what was normally expected of them.
Saving a deputy's life clearly qualified.
Some Had Not Even Been Sentenced Yet
Another detail often lost in retellings is that not all six men's legal situations were identical.
Sheriff Moats told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that several had not yet been formally sentenced.
For those men, he said he intended to speak up in court about what they had done if he was present when their cases were heard.
That means the viral claim that all six were immediately released because 25 percent was simply removed from fixed sentences is too broad.
The reality depended on each man's individual case.
What is clear is that authorities intended their actions to count in their favor.
Why the Story Resonated
Stories about incarcerated people often begin and end with the worst thing they have done.
An arrest.
A conviction.
A mugshot.
A sentence.
Those facts matter.
But they are not always the totality of a person.
The six Polk County inmates did not suddenly become innocent because they helped the deputy.
Nor does one act erase whatever circumstances placed them in jail.
What the incident demonstrated was something simpler:
Human beings remain capable of making meaningful choices even after making serious mistakes.
When the deputy collapsed, the six men had only moments to decide what to do.
There was no television audience waiting for a heroic act.
There was no guarantee of a sentence reduction.
There was no public applause yet.
They simply reacted.
And their reaction was to help.
The Deputy Saw Them Differently
The deputy's comments afterward reveal something else important about the relationship.
He did not describe the inmates merely as prisoners.
He called them “my guys.”
He emphasized that none of them ran and that none did anything they were not supposed to do.
That language reflected a degree of trust that had apparently developed during the many hours they spent together on work details.
The inmates were still under his supervision.
But when he became the person who needed help, the normal roles briefly reversed.
The guard was vulnerable.
The inmates became the rescuers.
They Could Have Chosen Themselves
Perhaps that is why the story became so widely shared.
The most powerful part is not simply that they performed first aid.
It is that helping the deputy appeared to conflict with their immediate self-interest.
A chance to escape custody is something many people might assume an inmate would automatically take.
These men did not.
CBS described how they potentially could have fled while the deputy was incapacitated.