June 17, 2015

Federal Inmate Pleads Guilty to Assault

SPRINGFIELD, MO—Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an inmate of the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mo., pleaded guilty in federal court today to assaulting another inmate.

Dean Kinningham, 52, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to assault with the intent to commit murder.

Kinningham admitted that he assaulted another inmate, Gary Brown, by stabbing and slashing him with a razor blade on June 4, 2014. Prison officials responded to an emergency call in the prison ward and discovered Brown with multiple lacerations on his face and neck. Kinningham, who had blood on his shirt, was also present. Kinningham stated that “this is all me,” referring to the blood in the hallway and on his clothes. Brown was treated on the scene and transported to a local Springfield hospital for treatment.

Kinningham is currently serving a 262-month sentence for armed pharmacy robbery, with a release date of March 31, 2030. Brown is currently serving a 170-month sentence for conspiracy to possess crack cocaine with the intent to distribute, with a release date of Feb. 25, 2015.

Under federal statutes, Kinningham is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert. It was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.