Pinckneyville correctional officers indicted for excessive force, obstruction of justice

PINCKNEYVILLE, Ill. (KFVS) - Three correctional officers at the Pinckneyville Correctional Center were indicted by a federal grand jury on Tuesday, May 16.

According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois, the five-count indictment charges the officers for alleged civil rights violations and conspiring to falsify reports about the incident.

Cord A. Williams, 35, Christian L. Pyles, 25, and Mark C. Maxwell, 52, were charged in the indictment. Williams and Pyles were indicted for violation of civil rights under color of law, conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice.

The indictment alleges that on April 24, 2022, correctional officers Williams and Pyles beat an inmate who was fully restrained with his hands cuffed behind his back and secured in leg irons.

Maxwell is charged with a separate civil rights violation.

That count alleges Maxwell was working as an acting lieutenant when he failed to intervene and allowed the inmate to be beaten in his presence.

According to the release, the conspiracy count alleges that Williams and Pyle worked with other officers to file false reports about the incident. They are separately charged with obstruction of justice for filing their false reports.

The Illinois State Police are leading the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft is prosecuting the case.

Each of them received a criminal summons to appear in federal court in Benton, Illinois, on June 1.

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