Man sentenced in prison cases
A Clarion man was sentenced to state prison in Butler County Court on Thursday in relation to three cases that occurred at the Butler County Prison, including the assault of a prison guard, damaging a prison cell and filing a false report while imprisoned.
Charles W. Burgess Jr., 24, was sentenced to 12 to 36 months in a state correctional institution and $148.50 in restitution in the three cases by Judge William Shaffer.
Burgess previously pleaded guilty to felony aggravated harassment by a prisoner, misdemeanor institutional vandalism and unsworn falsification to law enforcement.
Burgess spoke during the proceeding, saying, “I'm just sorry for my actions.”
He had been in the Butler County Prison since Oct. 21, having first served a sentence in a felony shoplifting case, officials said. During that time, authorities said Burgess provided a false written statement accusing two other inmates of forcing him to perform sex acts on them twice between Nov. 21 and 25.
The accused inmates denied wrongdoing, according to court documents. Burgess' cell mate and video surveillance also contradicted Burgess' accusations.
When confronted by police, documents said, he “admitted that he had made up the incident so that he could get moved to another pod in the prison.”
The felony charge stems from an incident on Jan. 17, when Butler County detectives say Burgess spit in the face of a correctional officer during a disturbance in his cell.
Guards confronted Burgess for being disruptive, including repeatedly kicking the cell door, and when two officers tried to remove him he resisted, according to court documents. He eventually spit saliva in one of the guard's faces.
The institutional vandalism charge stems from an incident on Jan. 31 at the prison, where Burgess allegedly broke off a sprinkler head, which allowed his cell to flood with water.
Authorities said after the sprinkler head was severed, the water to the prison's fire suppression system had to be shut off, “causing the entire system to be inoperable,” documents said, thereby placing all inmates and employees in danger.
The vandalism caused $148.50 in damage.
