Two Federal Bureau of Prisons Employees Charged with Violating the Civil Rights of an Inmate Resulting in His Death

On June 6, 2023, a BOP Lieutenant and a BOP Registered Nurse assigned to the Federal Correctional Complex Petersburg were indicted for deprivation of rights under color of law.  Lieutenant Shronda Covington and BOP Registered Nurse Tonya Farley were indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia.  Covington was also indicted for false statements, and Farley was also indicted for false statements and false report.  According to the Indictment, on or about January 9, 2021, both Covington and Farley willfully deprived a BOP inmate of his right to necessary medical care when they were deliberately indifferent to the inmate’s serious medical needs, which resulted in the inmate’s death.  Also according to the Indictment, on or about January 9, 2021, Farley made a false entry in a record and document with the intent to impede an investigation when she wrote a BOP Clinical Encounter Report purporting to document her medical assessment of the inmate, in which she falsely claimed, among other things, that the inmate exhibited no signs or symptoms of “acute distress” when, as Farley knew, the inmate was exhibiting multiple signs of acute stress.  Furthermore, according to the Indictment, on or about February 21, 2023, and April 4, 2023, respectively, Covington and Farley each made false statements to federal agents about the incident.  The investigation is being conducted by the OIG’s Washington Field Office.