Former Maryland Division of Corrections Lieutenant Sentenced for Obstruction of Justice

Edwin Stigile III, formerly a lieutenant at the Roxbury Correctional Institution (RCI) in Hagerstown, Maryland, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge James K. Bredar to serve 36 months in prison for obstruction of justice in connection with his involvement in a series of assaults against an inmate, Kenneth Davis, at RCI.

 

On Jan. 9, 2014, Stigile pleaded guilty to a charge of destruction of records.  According to court documents filed in connection with his guilty plea, Stigile acknowledged that he intentionally used a magnetic device to erase incriminating surveillance video footage related to the RCI officers’ assaults of Davis.  RCI officers from three different shifts assaulted Davis in March 2008, in retaliation for a prior incident in which Davis struck an officer.  Stigile also instructed an officer to hide the magnetic device after the surveillance footage was destroyed.  In September 2012, Stigile made false and misleading statements to federal authorities and a federal grand jury in an attempt to obstruct the federal investigation related to the assaults.

 

“The defendant participated in the cover-up of the assaults suffered by Mr. Davis, and then he lied to cover up this crime,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Civil Rights Division.  “The defendant’s actions run completely counter to the responsibilities and trust given to a supervisor at a correctional facility.  The Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute those officers who, like this defendant, try to cover up the misconduct of other officers.”

 

To date, 16 current or former officers at RCI were convicted in connection with the series of assaults that Davis suffered on March 8 through 9, 2008.  One former officer still awaits sentencing.

 

The case was investigated by the Frederick Resident Agency of the FBI, and prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Forrest Christian and Trial Attorney Sanjay Patel of the Civil Rights Division, with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Cunningham for the District of Maryland.