Another Former MC Prison Guard Pleads Guilty as the Federal Investigation Grows
By Roberta Cantrell
BSN Editor
PIKEVILLE — A former lieutenant at the United States Penitentiary Big Sandy now faces up to 20 years in prison after he pled guilty to a charge of falsifying records in an attempt to cover up the assault of an inmate who was seeking protective custody.
Michael J. Childers entered the plea Dec. 1, in U.S. District Court in Pikeville to a single count of falsification of records in a federal investigation.
He becomes the latest official swept up in an ever- growing federal investigation into brutality and cover-ups inside the high-security prison in Martin County.
At that time, he was working as a lieutenant when an inmate seeking to be placed in protective custody was brought into the office. Childers admitted to tackling the inmate to the ground and assaulting him with four other guards.
Federal prosecutors detailed a violent incident April 13, 2021, inside the lieutenant’s office at USP Big Sandy, where prison staff took an inmate identified as J.B. after he requested protective custody. Childers admitted he was present with Lieutenant Terry Melvin, Lieutenant Kevin Pearce, case management coordinator Samuel Patrick and captain’s secretary Clinton Pauley, when the inmate pleaded for protection.
Childers said Melvin became agitated, saying that if J.B. had done to Childers’ family what he had been convicted of “J.B. would not be standing there.” Melvin then asked the inmate, “Have you met Lieutenant Childers?”
At that point, Childers punched J.B. in the face and tackled him to the ground. The group piled onto the inmate and continued the assault, repeatedly striking him.
Childers admitted he knew J.B. was not resisting and that there was no lawful justification for using force.
Afterward, Melvin asked, “Who did [J.B.] headbutt?” Childers acknowledged he knew the inmate had not headbutted anyone. However, he raised his hand, understanding the question was part of an effort to fabricate a justification for the beating.
Childers then wrote a false incident report claiming J.B. headbutted him, punched him, caused him to bleed and made him dizzy. Childers admitted those statements were false and intended to impede or influence the federal investigation.
Terry L. Melvin pleaded guilty on Jan. 24, to conspiring with fellow officers at the United States Penitentiary Big Sandy to brutally assault inmates and falsify reports to conceal the abuse.
His sentencing date was initially May 14, however, the court pushed that date to Nov. 13, and now it has been rescheduled to April 2, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. in the United States Courthouse in London.
While the reason for the lengthy postponement remains undisclosed, the federal docket in Melvin’s case contains a series of sealed entries. U.S. District Judge Robert E. Wier wrote in an Oct. 16 order: “Recognizing the sensitive subject matter at issue, at this time … [docket entry] 21 shall remain under seal.”
The former prison Lieutenant pled guilty in his part of regular harsh beatings of inmates and violations of civil rights.
According to that plea agreement Melvin, who was the Lieutenant of the United States Penitentiary Big Sandy (USP Big Sandy) the federal prison located in Inez
admitted that illegally assaulting inmates by Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) staff was a commonplace occurrence.
Melvin’s admissions expanded the scope of culpability, naming additional staff by initials—L.C., C.M., D.B., E.T., P.P., L.M., D.A., S.H., and J.P., implicating them in what prosecutors described as a “widespread and coordinated scheme of unconstitutional punishment.”
Several USP Big Sandy officials have already received sentences including:
• Kevin Pearce Jr., 38 of Inez, convicted at trial in 2023, on two counts of falsification of records, received a sentence of five and a half years.
• Samuel Patrick, 42, of Blaine, pleaded guilty in 2023 to two counts involving the assault of inmates and attempts to cover it up. He received a sentence of three years.
• Clinton Pauley, 42 of Coal Grove, Ohio, pleaded guilty in 2023, to three counts related to assaults on inmates. He received three years and four months.
• Former Lieutenant Ryan O. Elliott, pleaded guilty to assaulting one inmate and writing a false report in a separate incident. He received a sentence March 14, 2024, of one year and one day in prison followed by a year of supervised release. Court records show Elliott tackled and punched an inmate during a March 26, 2021, assault. He later helped cover up another beating at Pearce’s request.