Former Correctional Officer at the North Branch Correctional Institution Convicted of Assault

BALTIMORE, MD ( July 21, 2009) - Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that Tony V. Nery, 42, a former correctional officer at the North Branch Correctional Institute, was found guilty by a jury of four counts of assault in the second degree and four counts of conspiracy to commit assault. Allegany County Circuit Court Judge Gary G. Leasure ordered a pre-sentence investigation and ordered Nery to be released on his own recognizance pending sentencing.

Nery was accused of assaulting four inmates - Kyle Bell, Brian Pugh, Mark Luhman, and Jason Sinclair - at the correctional facility in March 2008. Second degree assault is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and/or a $2,500 fine.

This case was prosecuted by Attorney General Gansler’s Criminal Division. The Maryland State Police and the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services’ Internal Investigative Unit assisted in the investigation. In making today’s announcement, Attorney General Gansler thanked Assistant Attorneys General Jason Abbott and Franklyn G Musgrave, Jr. for their work on the case.