By John Green
The Hutchinson News
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A Hutchinson Correctional Facility inmate who was nearing release on an attempted burglary conviction received another seven-plus years behind bars on Friday for battering a prison officer.
It could have been worse for Charles McCollum, however, as his criminal history called for a nearly 11-year sentence under state sentencing guidelines.
Reno County District Judge Tim Chambers followed a recommendation from attorneys in the case and granted McCollum a downward departure from guidelines, sentencing him to serve 94 months, to run consecutively with the sentence he is now serving.
McCollum, 26, alias Big Mike, was acting as a porter at the prison on May 28, 2013, when an officer observed him accepting items from one inmate and distributing them to two other inmates on a different level of the cellblock, a violation of prison rules, said Reno County Deputy District Attorney Tom Stanton, who prosecuted the case.
When the cellblock supervisor, Officer Matthew Wagner, ordered McCollum to return to his cell, McCollum, 6 feet tall and weighing 230 pounds, turned on him and began to batter him, breaking his glasses. Officers used Mace to subdue and secure McCollum.
While he was in prison for attempted burglary and theft, McCollum moved to the top of the state sentencing grid because of a string of misdemeanor batteries and a felony conviction for battering a juvenile correction officer, his record shows.
Prison records show he also has a history of disciplinary actions for assaultive behavior, including repeated incidents at Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility.
Without the new conviction, McCollum was eligible for early release last month.
Copyright 2015 The Hutchinson News