Mainly clear. Low 56F. Winds light and variable..
Mainly clear. Low 56F. Winds light and variable.
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WV News) — A Bureau of Prisons corrections officer was convicted Tuesday of two counts alleging he lied to federal law enforcement officers about abuse of inmates at USP Hazelton’s solitary confinement unit.
Corrections Officer William Lewis was acquitted on a third count. Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh will hear post-trial motions and preside over sentencing at a later date.
Lewis was indicted in September 2021 on the three counts alleging false statement to federal agent. The government alleged Lewis lied Aug. 14, 2020, to agents meeting with him by:
— Saying he had no information and that he knew “nothing about the situation” regarding alleged staff misconduct in the Special Housing Unit of the high security prison. He was acquitted on this count.
— Denying any staff in the Special Housing Unit at USP Hazelton had used excessive force against inmates. He was convicted on this count, with the government’s case alleging he had previously reported about excessive force against inmates.
— Saying that he hadn’t told anyone that he had seen Special Housing Unit officers “going too far.” He was convicted of this count. The government alleged Lewis had previously advised a lieutenant for Special Investigative Services at the prison “that staff in the SHU at USP Hazelton were assaulting inmates and might ultimately kill an inmate.”
Lewis maintained his innocence, and defense attorneys Timothy McAfee, of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, and Greg Schillace, of Clarksburg, asserted the government’s case hinged on testimony from just one witness, the Special Investigative Services lieutenant who wrote a memorandum reporting the alleged conversation he had with Lewis in July 2020.
During cross-examination, McAfee tried to show the officer had a motive for conflict with Lewis; that the lieutenant’s memo didn’t follow protocol; and that a supervisor of the lieutenant didn’t follow protocol and hadn’t read rules that should have governed how matters proceeded.
Supervising Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Cogar, of the office of U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld, worked to counter against these assertions through his redirect.
Schillace also had sought to have stricken from potential evidence parts of a transcript of the Aug. 14, 2020, interview of Lewis, but Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh denied that request prior to the trial.
During the interview, an Office of Inspector General special agent says that “some of the allegations are that straight up that dudes are getting their [expletive] beat,” according to the transcript. We’re getting allegations that ... dude’s stuff is getting [urinated] on. ... the culture has gone from business as usual to one guy keeps pushing and keeps pushing and keeps pushing and keeps pushing. ... So when I have multiple inmates complaining about stuff, where am I supposed to sit on the fence? Are inmates complaining just for the sake of complaining because they’ve been locked up? Is there any validity there? I’m not asking you to dime everyone else out of the store ...”
The trial began Monday and ended early Tuesday evening.
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