Associated Press
ALEXANDRIA, La. — A federal inmate has been sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison for assaulting a corrections officer.
U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley said Wednesday that 32-year-old James Peter Thomas, of Phoenix, pleaded guilty in the case June 18.
Authorities say two officers found Thomas and two other inmates drinking a homemade alcoholic beverage in a cell at the U.S. Penitentiary at Pollock. One of the officers led the trio out of the cell, but Thomas went back and began beating the officer who was still in the cell.
Thomas was subdued after officers used pepper spray.
At the time of the attack, Thomas was serving a nearly 13½-year combined sentence for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.