Pendleton Correctional Facility

On February 1, 1985, a riot took place at the Pendleton Correctional Facility, then still known as the Indiana Reformatory. An inmate, Lincoln Love #5268 (still incarcerated),[3] was badly beaten by correctional officers after he refused to vacate his cell during a weapons check, also called a shakedown. Tear gas was used in large quantities in the cellblock, although eyewash was only offered to the officers. Inmates John Cole and Christopher Trotter rushed to the maximum restraint unit where the beating had taken place.[4] The two proceeded to the infirmary where Love was located and attacked the officers in that area. They held staff hostage when they took over the J-Cellhouse. After the riot was over, inmates had stabbed seven correctional officers and held three employees hostage for 17 hours.

In 1988, the superintendent of the Indiana Reformatory, Edward L. Cohn, was reprimanded for shackling inmates in manners that violated current prison standards. Inmates were shackled in a position that allowed them neither to stand up nor lay straight.[5] This position is achieved by placing handcuffs around an inmates wrists and connecting them to leg irons with a short chain. One prisoner was kept in a maximum-restraint unit in this position for seven days, not even being allowed to loosen his shackles to eat or to use the bathroom. On another occasion, seven inmates wearing only underwear were placed in a single room. After two of the inmates were removed, the remaining five were put in restraints consistent with those mentioned in the previous incidents for one day. These were not the only cases of illegal restraints being used on prisoners. As a result of these incidents, Superintendent Cohn was placed on paid leave for approximately three months. Cohn lost "30 days worth of pay and a merit raise." His two assistants were suspended for a number days without pay, denied their merit raises, and required to undergo performance evaluations quarterly instead of annually. In later years Edward L. Cohn went on to become the Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Correction.

In 1990, Pendleton came under fire for allowing an unsafe environment for inmates after two prisoners were fatally stabbed within a two-week period. Jesus Rodriquez #856496[6] was killed while he was in the segregation unit and Samuel Miller #906085[7] was murdered the day after he was released from the same unit.

Two separate incidents involving sexual misconduct between employees and inmates brought to light in 2001. The first occurred on December 8 of the previous year. An inmate and a female nurse were caught on camera engaging in a sexual act in a closet. The cameras were in place to record possible tobacco trafficking believed to have been occurring in the closet. Clips of the tape from the camera were shown often on the news during the scandal.[8] In the second case, a female guard accused an inmate of inappropriately touching her. It was later revealed that she had consensual sex with an inmate in a hallway.[9]

On May 1, 2004, an unidentified caller phoned the Pendleton Correctional Facility about plans of assaults and escape attempts by the inmates. The phone call occurred at a time during which prisoners had set up an eight-step action plan. This plan asked inmates to "boycott recreation periods on some days, submit grievances about food portions, visitation privileges, and law library access, and pick days when everyone in a cell house would show up for breakfast, which is optional." The phone call, in addition to increasing inmate on inmate violence, prompted the then-Superintendent Zettie Cotton to impose a lockdown on the prison. During the lockdown, brown bag lunches were served, classes were not allowed to meet, and visiting hours were cut down. The lockdown lasted a total of five months, one of the longest in recent years of any prison in Indiana.[10]

On October 9, 2008, at 12:39 a.m. during a routine security check, convicted killer[11] was found hanging in his cell. Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at 1:20 a.m. Rios was convicted in October 2007 for the murder of his three children and his wife in Fort Wayne, Indiana in December 2005. He also was convicted of raping and killing 10-year-old Alejandra Gutierrez. Rios was serving a total of 5 life-terms plus 50 years for the rape and molestation of Alejandra Gutierrez.[12]

On January 25, 2010 52-year-old offender[13] was stabbed by another inmate shortly before 1:30 Saturday as offenders were being released to go to recreation. Jackson, who previously lived in Marion, was transported to the facility's emergency room, where he was pronounced dead about 45 minutes later. Jackson had been sentenced to 80 years for rape in Grant County.[14]

On May 28, 2011,[15] was stabbed around 1:45 p.m. Saturday in a segregation unit. Officers rushed the victim to the in-house health care center where less than an hour later he was pronounced dead. Knapp had been serving a three-year sentence for an arson conviction in Marion County.[16]

On July 16, 2011,[17] was attacked by two offenders around 6:30 a.m. Saturday when the offenders, all housed in the facility's "H" cell house, were being released to the gym for recreation. The offenders stabbed Dewitt several times in an act of gang violence and he was pronounced dead at a local hospital hours later. Dewitt was six months into a 17-year sentence for dealing in a controlled substance and a ten-year sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm.[18]