By C1 Staff
ANSON COUNTY, NC — Five former prisoners of the Lanesboro Correctional Institution in Anson County are alleging that prison staff assisted gang-affiliated inmates in obtaining weapons and waging attacks.
WBTV reports that the former inmates are now suing the facility, looking for compensation and a promise that they will never have to serve time there again because all the plaintiffs are still behind bars, albeit at other facilities.
Stacey Wynn, Orlando Harshaw, Sean Smith, Benjamin White and Tavieolis Hunt are all serving time, for convictions including murder, rape, and robbery with a dangerous weapon.
Though no one is saying they shouldn’t be serving their sentences, their lawyer states that they should be safe.
“Irrespective of what people may have done, on or in society, the punishment is imprison,” said Daryl Atkinson, the lawyer representing the inmates. “The punishment is not to be placed in an unsafe environment where you can be stabbed and cut and your medical conditions can be ignored.”
In the 45-page document, the inmates have laid out circumstances where corrections officers allowed inmates to be stabbed by other inmates who were gang members. They even allege that a unit manager in the prison provided the weapons, and say a hidden bag of shanks was found in the ceiling of his office.
The inmates say they filed complaints with the Department of Corrections, now known as the Department of Public Safety, but that those complaints were ignored.
Pamela Walker, a spokesperson for the DPS, says they have not yet received the lawsuit and when they do, they cannot comment on pending litigation.