BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
PIKEVILLE — A federal jury convicted a former Kentucky Federal Bureau of Prisons lieutenant on two counts of obstruction for covering up assaults of two inmates by corrections officers under his command.
Kevin Pearce, 38, of Inez, Kentucky, a former supervisor at the U.S. Penitentiary Big Sandy in Debord, was convicted Tuesday following a six-day trial in U.S. District Court in Pikeville.
Two former officers, Samuel Patrick, 41, of West Van Lear, and Clinton Pauley, 40, of Ironton, Ohio, pleaded guilty in February for their roles in the two assaults and testified for the government at trial.
According to a press release Tuesday from the U.S. Attorney’s office, the evidence at trial established that Pearce was the supervising lieutenant responding to an incident in which Patrick and Pauley assaulted an inmate by pepper-spraying him in the face and kicking him in the head.
Witnesses, including Patrick and Pauley, testified that the inmate was compliant and not a threat and was assaulted for walking too slowly to his cell.
Pearce attempted to cover up the assault by writing a false report which described the inmate as violent. He omitted that the inmate had been kicked in the head while he was prone and unresisting.
One month later, Pearce again covered up an unrelated assault initiated by Patrick and Pauley. The victim of that assault was taken to Pearce’s office to request protection from other inmates. When the victim, who is white, revealed that he used to affiliate with Black gangs, Patrick and Pauley repeatedly struck him in the head and body while one of the officers referred to him as a “race traitor.”
Pearce wrote a false report about the assault claiming the inmate agreed to go to his housing unit “without incident.” As the cover-up expanded, Pearce supervised efforts to discredit the inmate by recruiting another officer who was not present to write a report that falsely corroborated the cover story.
U.S. Attorney Carlton S. Shier IV for the Eastern District of Kentucky said Pearce betrayed the public trust placed in him, abused his authority and enabled the violation of other’s rights.
“Instead of enforcing the law and protecting those in his care, he chose to cover up disgraceful abuses and to discredit those who faithfully discharge their public service. His conviction is the next step in the process of restoring the public’s trust,” Shier said.
Pearce is scheduled for sentencing July 5 in Pikeville. The maximum penalties for false report offenses are 20 years imprisonment. He remains free on bond while awaiting sentencing. Conditions of his bond include home detention, with departures only upon advance leave of USPO, and a bar of any contact with any prosecution trial witness.
Pearce was initially charged with three counts of witness tampering, three counts of falsification of records and one count of deprivation of rights under color of law. He was acquitted of all except the two counts of obstruction for writing false reports.
Co-defendant Pauley pleaded guilty to three counts of deprivation of rights under color of law for assaulting three inmates. Co-defendant Patrick pleaded guilty to two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law for assaulting two of the same three inmates.
Inmate assault 1
Pauley and Patrick admitted in their plea agreements that Pauley was in Pearce’s office April 29, 2021, when Patrick took an inmate to the ground and elbowed him repeatedly in the head inside the office. After the inmate was taken to the ground, Pauley assisted Patrick with the assault by repeatedly striking the inmate while Pearce watched. Both men admitted that following the assault, Pearce denied the inmate’s request for protective custody and ordered him taken to a general housing unit.
Pauley and Patrick admitted they entered an unlawful agreement with other corrections officers, including Pearce, to cover up what happened. Their cover-up included writing false reports and pressuring other corrections officers to join the cover-up.
Inmate assault 2
Patrick and Pauley admitted Patrick punished another non-violent inmate March 30, 2021, by pepper-spraying him in the face for walking too slowly to his cell. After the inmate was taken to the ground by other corrections officers and pinned on his stomach, Pauley repeatedly kicked and punched the inmate in the jaw. The plea agreements state Pearce shot the inmate with a pepper ball gun even though the inmate was not aggressive.
Pauley admitted that while escorting the inmate out of the dorm and toward the special housing unit, he took the inmate to the ground twice and kicked him on the second occasion. Pauley states Pearce again used a pepper spray gun on the inmate while he was on the ground during the escort. The inmate’s hands were restrained throughout the escort.
Patrick and Pauley admit they wrote false incident reports and spread a false cover story to cover up the unlawful use of force.
Inmate assault 3
Pauley admitted to assaulting a third inmate March 26, 2021, while escorting the inmate from the lieutenant’s office. Pauley’s plea agreement states he took the inmate to the ground and repeatedly struck him with his knee to punish him for walking too slowly and for a previous non-violent violation of prison rules. The inmate’s hands and legs were restrained.
Pauley admitted he wrote a false incident report to cover up the use of force.
Pauley and Patrick are scheduled for sentencing June 28 in Pikeville. Each of their charges carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. Should the court choose to follow federal sentencing guidelines, Patrick could be sentenced to 51-63 months and Pauley to 70-87 months. The two remain free on bond while awaiting sentencing.