BOP Correctional Officer Convicted of False Statements to a Federal Agent

On September 13, 2022, a BOP Correctional Officer assigned to the United States Penitentiary Hazelton (USP Hazelton) in West Virginia, was found guilty of two counts of false statements to a Federal agent and acquitted of one count of a false statement to a Federal agent after a two-day trial by jury.  William Lewis was convicted in the Northern District of West Virginia.  According to the evidence presented at trial, on or about August 14, 2020, Lewis willfully and knowingly made a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements to OIG Special Agents by denying that any BOP staff in the Special Housing Unit (SHU) at USP Hazelton had used excessive force against inmates, and by stating that he “never told anybody” that he had “seen [SHU] officers going too far.”  The statements and representations were false because Lewis had recently advised an SIS Lieutenant that staff in the SHU at USP Hazelton were assaulting inmates and might ultimately kill an inmate.  The investigation is being conducted by the OIG’s Washington Field Office.