By Charlene Bielema
Daily Gazette, Sterling, Ill.
THOMSON, Ill. — A former employee of the Federal Correctional Institute in Thomson has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison after he was convicted of sexually abusing two inmates, authorities said this week.
Danny L. Spyker, 42, of Lanark, a corrections officer who was working as a cook supervisor, knowingly engaged in sexual acts with two inmates, which is a federal crime, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Northern District of Illinois office.
At the time of the abuse in March 2024, both inmates were in official detention in the prison and under the custodial, supervisory, and disciplinary authority of prison employees, including Spyker, authorities said.
A U.S. District Court jury convicted Spyker on the two charges after a three-day trial in May.
U.S. District Judge Sunil R. Harjani on Monday sentenced Spyker to three years and five months in federal prison. Spyker faced up to 15 years in federal prison on each count, according to an earlier news release.
“Defendant’s criminal conduct was not the result of a one-time mistake or a momentary lapse of judgment,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Kim argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum, according to the release. “He used his knowledge and position as a corrections officer/cook supervisor for his own sexual gratification. When a correctional officer abuses his power and harms an inmate, it is not only a violation of federal law – it is a betrayal of the trust that the community places in our penal institutions.”
The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Matt Loux, acting special agent in charge of the Midwest Regional Office of the DOJ’s Office of Inspector General.
“Today’s [Monday] sentencing shows the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ commitment to protecting the people in our custody and holding anyone who breaks the law accountable,” William K. Marshall III, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said in the release. “We will continue working with our law enforcement partners to keep every BOP facility safe, secure, and worthy of the public’s trust.”
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