Pollock prisoners plead guilty to assault

ALEXANDRIA, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced last week that three prisoners at the U.S. Penitentiary in Pollock pleaded guilty to the assault of an inmate that resulted in injuries requiring hospitalization.

Jason Dwight Mackenzie, 35; Robert Shipp Jr., 32; and Calvin Skelton, 42, inmates at the U.S. Penitentiary in Pollock, La., pleaded guilty Friday before U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell to one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury. According to the guilty plea, the defendants beat a fourth inmate on October 21, 2015. The defendants jumped and punched the victim while he was reading a newspaper in the cell block causing the victim to fall to the ground. The assailants punched and kicked him in the head, upper body and legs until they appeared winded and tired. Once a guard approached, the defendants went back to their cells. The victim was taken to the prison infirmary then to a hospital where he underwent multiple surgeries to repair severe injuries from the assault.

The defendants face a maximum of 10 years in prison, one to three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The court set the sentencing date for May 26, 2017.

The FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael O’Mara is prosecuting the case.