Officers at Kentucky prison charged in alleged assaults on inmates, cover-up efforts

Three officers at a federal prison in Eastern Kentucky have been charged in assaults on two inmates and accused of making efforts to cover up the incidents.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment Thursday against Samuel J. Patrick, Clinton C. Pauley and Kevin C. Pearce Jr., who were officers at USP Big Sandy, a high-security prison in Martin County.

Patrick and Pauley allegedly assaulted an inmate in the lieutenants’ office at the prison in April 2021. There were no security cameras in the office, the indictment said.

After the assault, which injured the inmate, Pearce told a subordinate prison employee to write a false report about it and Patrick pressured the employee to comply, the indictment said.

Pearce also is charged with writing a false report after the assault that said the inmate left the lieutenants’ office “without incident” and didn’t mention the assault, and Pauley and Patrick also allegedly wrote false memorandums to to cover up the assault.

In a separate incident, Patrick allegedly assaulted another inmate and wrote a false memo to cover it up, saying the man had yelled at him and tried to hit him and that Patrick used the least amount of force needed to subdue the inmate.

The inmate hadn’t yelled at Patrick or tried to hit him, the indictment alleged.

The charges related to making false reports are punishable by up to 20 years in prison while the assault charges have a maximum sentence of 10 years.

The three men are still employed at the prison.

Donald Murphy, a Bureau of Prisons spokesman, said the agency could not comment on the matter because it is under prosecution, but that allegations of staff misconduct are taken seriously and referred for investigation if warranted.

“The BOP takes seriously our duty to protect the individuals entrusted in our custody as well as maintain the safety of correctional staff and the community,” Murphy said. “Incidents of potential criminal activity or misconduct inside BOP facilities are thoroughly investigated for potential administrative discipline or criminal prosecution.”