Company convicted for falsifying records in Milwaukee Co. jail dehydration death
By WISN Staff
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MILWAUKEE (WISN) — On Tuesday, a jury returned verdicts of guilty on all counts against Armor Correctional Health Services, Inc., a corporate defendant.
According to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, in 2016, Armor Correctional was contracted to provide medical care for inmates in the Milwaukee County Jail. During that time, Terrill Thomas who was being held in jail, died of dehydration.
Based on that finding, the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office says they conducted an investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Thomas’s death. That investigation revealed that multiple former employees of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office violated jail policies and procedure, including by turning off the water to Mr. Thomas’s cell, failing to log that his water was turned off, and failing to preserve surveillance video of several days when these acts occurred. As a result of these failures, criminal charges were issued against multiple former employees of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office.
Those employees were ultimately convicted for their acts.
The D.A.’s office adds that the investigation also revealed that multiple employees of Armor Correctional failed in their duties to provide medical care for other persons held in custody. They say that those employees neglected Mr. Thomas by not providing appropriate medical care to him, and by trying to hide that fact by falsifying his medical records so it appeared the care was provided. The investigation into Mr. Thomas’s death also revealed that no less than three other prisoners’ medical records were falsified by Armor.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office issued criminal charges against Armor Correctional, including seven counts of intentionally falsifying medical records and one count of abuse or neglect of resident of penal institution.
At the conclusion of the more than two-week trial, Armor Correctional was convicted of all counts.
According to District Attorney John Chisholm in a statement, “It is extremely rare to prosecute a corporation, however, such a prosecution is justified in particularly egregious circumstances. Based on the nature and seriousness of the offenses, including the risk of harm to members of the Milwaukee County community, the pervasiveness of wrongdoing within the corporation, and Armor Correctional’s history of similar misconduct, including prior civil, and regulatory enforcement actions against Armor, it was appropriate and necessary to hold the corporation itself accountable.”
“Armor Correctional was contracted by Milwaukee County to provide medical care for these members of the community. Armor Correctional betrayed the trust of the people of Milwaukee County by not only not neglecting Mr. Thomas and others, but also by attempting to hide the neglect by falsifying the medical records,” added Chisholm.
Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 16.
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