On Jan. 10, 2015, federal prisoner Victor L. Curry was standing by an ice machine inside Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) when fellow inmate Kenyan “Kenneth” Payne punched Curry, knocking him unconscious, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court on May 20. Hours later, Curry woke to find that he had a broken jaw and his eyeball was dangling from the socket.
Curry, 49, was eventually taken to a hospital in Lompoc, then to Santa Barbara where he underwent surgery to repair his eye and broken jaw, but not before being placed in solitary confinement immediately following the attack, still bleeding from his ears, eye, nose, and mouth, he alleges in the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California last month.
In the lawsuit, Curry accuses the medical director and warden of the Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex of medical negligence and deliberate indifference.
Doctors later told him that he had internal bleeding and a concussion. He also continued to experience physical problems for several months after, according to the lawsuit.
He now suffers from blindness in his left eye and has four plates in his jaw.
Things only seemed to get worse for Curry following surgery. He said he wasn’t allowed to properly recover in the hospital due to budget concerns.
Upon returning to the prison, he alleges that he was placed back into solitary confinement where the medical staff “did next to nothing” to help his recovery, adding that he was laughed at and taunted by prison staff for getting attacked.
“I was left in solitary confinement, suffering, with no proper treatment for my eye or broken jaw,” Curry states in the lawsuit. “I was fed NSAID pills for pain the entire time without any kidney tests to see why I was urinating blood and in pain.”
At one point, Curry alleges he was placed in a locked cage with Payne and was encouraged by prison staff to seek revenge.
The incident occurred at the medium-security federal prison in Lompoc, which is the last place Curry said he expected to be attacked.
The current warden of Lompoc FCC is Steve Langford. Justin Long, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP), said the agency can’t comment on matters currently in litigation.
Prison assaults in the federal system are not common. As of January 2016, there were fewer than 20 “serious assaults” on inmates out of a total population of 195,709 inmates, according to BOP statistics.
Payne is serving a prison sentence on a money laundering conspiracy charge and charges of possession and intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, and PCP. He is scheduled for release in July 2018.
Curry—who’s representing himself—is serving prison time for a cocaine distribution conviction. He is currently incarcerated at Elkton Federal Correctional Institution in Ohio and is scheduled for release in January 2019. He is seeking $1.5 million in damages.
