A federal judge sentenced a former jail administrator to four years and three months in prison for depriving an inmate medical care, according to officials.
The inmate died as a result.
Former McClain County, Oklahoma administrator Wayne Barnes plead guilty Feb. 9 of violating the inmate’s civil rights by depriving him of medical care.
Barnes was indicted by a grand jury in October 2016 and charged with a one-count federal criminal civil rights violation arising out of the death of Kory Dane Wilson, a detainee who was housed at the jail in June 2013.
“Every law enforcement officer in this country takes an oath to uphold the United States Constitution,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore. “The Constitution ensures that persons detained pending the adjudication of charges against them are entitled to necessary medical care. This sentence affirms the importance of that right and underscores the continuing commitment of the Civil Rights Division to hold officers accountable to their oaths.”
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 Wilson, who was housed at the Jail in June 2013.
The indictment alleged that Wilson suffered from diabetes that he needed insulin to control, that Wilson did not have insulin at the Jail from the time of his arrival on June 16, 2013.
Wilson 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 Wilson 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 Wilson’s pupils fixed and dilated.
Wilson died on June 21, 2013, never having regained consciousness. The indictment alleged that Barnes knew that Wilson had a serious medical condition and willfully failed to provide him with necessary medical care and that his failure to do so resulted in Wilson’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 Wilson had been booked into the McClain County Jail, and that Wilson represented that he was a Type-1 diabetic who required insulin.
Barnes further admitted that Barnes failed to obtain medical care for Wilson and that, in so doing, he willfully denied Wilson’s Constitutional right to medical care. Barnes also admitted that his failure to obtain the required medical care resulted in K.W.’s death.