(NewsNation) — Two former corrections officers in West Virginia pleaded guilty for their roles in an assault that resulted in the death of an inmate.
Steven Nicholas Wimmer and Andrew Fleshman, both former corrections officers at the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, West Virginia, pleaded guilty to conspiring with other officers to use unreasonable force against the inmate, identified only as Q.B.
According to the plea agreements, on Mar. 1, 2022, Wimmer and Fleshman admitted they separately responded to a call for assistance after Q.B. tried to push past another officer and leave his assigned pod. When they arrived, according to the documents, Q.B. was on the floor while force was being used on him.
After Q.B. was restrained and handcuffed, the two officers, along with others, took him to an interview room where they struck and injured the restrained inmate who presented no threat. They admitted each of the members hit and injured the inmate to punish him for trying to leave his assigned pod.
In the plea agreement, Fleshman also admitted he was one of the people who injured Q.B. while he was restrained in an interview room. He and others then took Q.B. from the interview room to a cell, where he was again hit and injured while handcuffed and restrained.
Wimmer admitted in his plea agreement that he hit and injured Q.B. after the inmate was brought back to his cell in an effort to punish Q.B.
Sentencing hearings for the two men are set for Feb. 22, 2024. They each face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.