An inmate who refused to participate in a racially motivated riot at Florence prison in 2008 was brutally beaten by his fellow inmates, according to federal court records.
Prisoner Dirk Horne suffered a broken nose, head injuries and permanent scarring from the April 20, 2008, attack.
The beating occurred in the federal prison’s gymnasium after guards moved inmates out of the yard where the riot took place.
“His entire head was swollen to the point that his eyes were shut, he could not speak, he had difficulty moving and, by all accounts, appeared to have suffered severe head trauma and was in an extreme amount of pain,” prosecutors wrote in federal court records. “Those who knew inmate Horne could not identify him subsequent to the attack based on the size of his swollen head that turned purple in color.”
Jody Stamp, Richard Frey and Christopher Copeland have pleaded guilty to beating Horne. Prisoner Clifford Leonard is expected to change his not-guilty plea for his role in the attack during a hearing on Nov. 30 in U.S. District Court in Denver.
Stamp agreed to serve 24 months, and Copeland agreed to a 40-month term. They will be sentenced Dec. 22 by Judge Marcia Krieger.
Frey is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 12 and could receive a 37-month term, according to the agreement.
Another inmate, Douglas Brannan, has pleaded guilty to possessing a homemade knife during the riot and is expected to serve another year in prison when he is sentenced on Dec. 14. Federal court records show Brannan was serving a 60-month sentence for the 2005 racially motivated beating of a Latino man outside a Texas convenience store.
At Florence, white-supremacist inmates who were celebrating Adolf Hitler’s birthday apparently taunted black inmates before the riot started.
About 200 inmates began fighting in the prison yard, and guards fired several hundred rounds into the crowd to stop the riot.
Two prisoners, Brian Kubik and Phillip Lee Hooker were shot to death.
Another two inmates who were injured by gunfire have since sued the Bureau of Prisons.
The BOP has not released an official investigative report of the incident.
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
