‘Assault day.’ Former officer at KY prison alleges systematic scheme to assault inmates
Senior supervisors at the federal prison in Martin County encouraged staffers to assault prisoners and cover up the crimes, according to a former officer who pleaded guilty to hitting an inmate.
It was a “commonplace occurrence” for prison employees to illegally assault inmates, Terry L. Melvin said in his guilty plea.
Melvin pleaded guilty Friday to one charge of conspiring to violate the civil rights of inmates and one charge of depriving an inmate of the Constitutional right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.
Melvin’s plea alleges that at one time there was an unofficial policy at the prison, known as USP Big Sandy, to beat inmates in order to reduce the number of people being held in protective custody.
The plea agreement Melvin signed said he took part in the conspiracy between early 2021 to March 2022.
USP Big Sandy was built on a former surface mine and houses 1,275 inmates, nearly all of them in a high-security facility.
Several other former officers at the prison have pleaded guilty or been convicted in recent years, but Melvin’s plea appears to the the first to include allegations of systematic assaults and cover-ups.
In a statement, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said that based on privacy and security concerns, “we do not discuss potential allegations of employee misconduct, nor do we confirm or deny the existence of a corresponding investigation or whether a specific employee was disciplined.”
“However, we can share that the FBOP is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all individuals in our population, our employees, and the public,” the statement said. “Humane treatment of the men and women in our custody is a top priority.”
Melvin retired from the prison, according to information in a divorce filed in July 2024 in state court.
According to Melvin’s plea, he was promoted to lieutenant at the prison in 2018.
In November 2019, a person identified only by the initials E.E. started working as an associate warden, and then in June 2020, another person identified as M.D. was promoted to captain, Melvin’s plea says.
Under federal policy, if a prisoner asked to be placed in protective custody because of an alleged threat to their safety, corrections officers were supposed to put them in the Special Housing Unit, or SHU, while investigating the potential threat.
However, E.E., M.D., and other senior staffers, conspired to use unconstitutional force against inmates requesting to be put in the SHU, Melvin alleged in his plea.
E.E. and M.D. allegedly outlined the unofficial policy to prison employees at a meeting in early 2021.
The SHU had filled up before the meeting, requiring lockdowns at other housing units.
E.E. and M.D. told supervisors that from that point on, if an inmate requested to go into protective custody, officers were to give them a choice: withdraw the request and go back to their regular housing unit, so they wouldn’t take up a spot in the SHU, or pretend to hit a guard, which would then subject them to a beating, according to Melvin’s plea.
The two supervisors called the approach “swing or kick rocks,” meaning pretend to swing at an officer, or go back back to a regular cell — kick rocks.
Under Bureau of Prisons policy, an inmate accused of assaulting a corrections officer would be transferred to another prison, reducing the number of inmates in the SHU at the Martin County prison, according to Melvin’s plea.
E.E. told prison supervisors that was the unofficial policy was the same at other prisons where he had worked.
Melvin said in his plea that he took part in the conspiracy “spearheaded” by M.D. and E.E. and that several other senior officers did as well.
Those included Samuel Patrick, Clinton Pauley, Kevin Pearce Jr. and Ryan Elliott, Melvin said.
Those former officers at the prison were all convicted in earlier cases.
Melvin said he also saw other prison employees assault inmates and aid assaults. His guilty plea lists several other supervisors or officers, though only by their initials: L.C., C.M., D.B., E.T., P.P., L.M., D.A., S.H. and J.P.
Melvin said in his plea that one day a week, new inmates at the prison were released from a unit called C-4, and that many of them had asked to be put in protective custody.
The day those inmates were released from C-4 became known as “staff assault day,” according to Melvin’s plea.
Melvin admitted he used unreasonable force on inmates on “numerous occasions.”
In one case cited in Melvin’s plea from April 2021, staffers brought an inmate who had requested to be put in protective custody into an office where there were no security cameras.
As the man, identified as J.B., pleaded for protective custody, Melvin said he was “tired of this,” and turned to another officer in the room, M.C., who punched J.B. in the face, according to the plea agreement.
As other officers held J.B. against the wall, Melvin punched him; M.C. punched and kicked him in the face and stomach; and Pauley, Patrick and Pearce also punched or kicked him, Melvin said in his plea.
Melvin knew J.B. was not resisting the attack, but kept telling him to stop resisting.
After the assault, Pearce said, “Get a picture before his face swells up,” and others held J.B. up for a photo.
Melvin and others then alleged J.B. had hit M.C., which was not true, Melvin acknowledged in his plea.
J.B, suffered extensive bruising, cuts to his face, a concussion and pain in his ribs and was hospitalized.
Melvin also said in his plea that M.D. and E.E, the captain and assistant warden, assigned internal investigators at the prison to help cover up acts of misconduct.
In one case, Melvin said he heard E.E. tell an investigator to “clean this shit up” and to “squash” incidents involving unreasonable force.
Melvin also said that investigator told him he had tampered with a video recording to distort evidence of officer misconduct, and that M.D. changed language in written reports from officers to make it look like inmates had resisted when they hadn’t or done things they didn’t.
Melvin said in his plea that he knew it was wrong to take part in the scheme, but that he and others received promotions for going along with it.
Melvin said he other officers received a total of $6,000 to $8,000 in cash in October 2021 at the direction of M.D.
His understanding was that they got the money for taking part in the conspiracy.
The two charges against Melvin are punishable by up to 10 years each.
In its statement, the Bureau of Prisons said it wholeheartedly supports holding employees accountable for misconduct “to the fullest extent of the law,” and said it is actively rooting out such misconduct.
The agency said it also is important to point out that “the vast majority of our employees are hardworking, ethical, diligent corrections professionals, who act with integrity daily and want those engaging in misconduct to be held accountable.”
This story was originally published January 27, 2025 at 12:42 PM.
