OKLAHOMA
Former jail administrator Wayne Barnes plead guilty to a civil rights violation for depriving an inmate of medical care, according to officials.
The inmate died as a result, officials said.
Barnes is facing up to life in prison. Sentencing for Barnes will be set by the court on a future date, according to authorities.
To read the indictment click here: U.S. Department of Justice
These are the facts and circumstances surrounding the facts, according to officials:
On October 4, 2016, a federal grand jury in the Western District of Oklahoma returned a one-count indictment charging Barnes with a civil rights violation arising out of the death of a detainee, K.W., who was housed at the Jail in June 2013.
The indictment alleged that K.W. suffered from diabetes that he needed insulin to control, that K.W. did not have insulin at the Jail from the time of his arrival on June 16, 2013.
K.W. was not evaluated or treated by a doctor, or taken to a hospital for evaluation or treatment until the afternoon of June 19, 2013.
On that day, according to the indictment, Barnes observed K.W. lying on the floor of his cell, unresponsive.
Only then did Barnes direct a corrections officer to calling emergency medical services, who arrived to find K.W.’s pupils fixed and dilated.
K.W. died on June 21, 2013, never having regained consciousness. The indictment alleged that Barnes knew that K.W. had a serious medical condition and willfully failed to provide him with necessary medical care and that his failure to do so resulted in K.W.’s death.
At the change of plea hearing held today before U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Friot, Barnes admitted that he was made aware between June 16, 2013, and June 19, 2013, that K.W. had been booked into the McClain County Jail, and that K. W. represented that he was a Type-1 diabetic who required insulin.
Barnes further admitted that Barnes failed to obtain medical care for K.W. and that, in so doing, he willfully denied K.W.’s Constitutional right to medical care. Barnes also admitted that his failure to obtain the required medical care resulted in K.W.’s death.
“Every person in this country, including inmates in our jails, is protected by the U.S. Constitution, which requires jailers to provide necessary medical care to all persons in their custody,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler. “The Civil Rights Division will hold corrections officers like this defendant accountable for failing to uphold their oaths to enforce and defend our Constitution.”
“Inmates deserve and the law requires that adequate medical care be provided by penal institutions,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Yancey. “Denying needed medical treatment to cut costs is inhuman and unconstitutional.”