Three convicted killers already serving life terms were sentenced Friday for their roles in a deadly riot at Delaware's maximum-security prison, bringing a close to a lengthy, costly and mostly failed prosecution.
The self-proclaimed mastermind of the February 2017 riot, Dwayne Staats, received two life terms for the murder of Steven Floyd, a guard at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center. Staats received another 153 years for assault, kidnapping and riot.
Co-defendant Jarreau Ayers, who was acquitted in Floyd's death, was sentenced to 123 years for assault, kidnapping and riot.
Former Baltimore gang leader Royal Downs, the prosecution's star witness, was sentenced to three years for riot. The judge said that for security reasons, Downs will begin that sentence only after finishing a life sentence for murder in Maryland.
Downs played a key role in hostage negotiations during the riot but began cooperating with authorities even before it ended after leaving the building with a group of other inmates. He pleaded guilty to riot shortly after he and 17 other inmates were indicted, 16 of them charged with murder.
With little physical evidence and no surveillance camera footage, prosecutors relied heavily on testimony from other inmates, whose credibility was successfully attacked by defense attorneys. In trials against eight inmates, prosecutors were able to obtain convictions only against Ayers and Staats, both of whom represented themselves. They decided in June to drop the remaining cases .
"I find the not-guilty verdicts that were rendered in these trials disappointing. ... It's frustrating but it will not deter us in the future from doing what is right and seeking justice" said lead prosecutor John Downs.
"Sentenced inmates wanted to be treated nicer, have more phone calls and less restriction on their lives, and decided torture, terror and violence were the way to go. And they're proud of that. That's disturbing," Downs added.
Geoff Klopp, head of the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware, said the case marked "an epic failure by the criminal justice system."
State taxpayers have been billed more than $1.4 million for defense costs in the case. State officials also agreed to pay more than $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of Floyd's family and six Department of Correction employees.
Staats and Ayers, meanwhile, remained defiant and unrepentant for their roles in the uprising, during which Floyd was killed and fellow guards Joshua Wilkinson and Winslow Smith were beaten and tormented. Patricia May, a female counselor, was held hostage for nearly 20 hours before tactical teams breached the building and rescued her.
"I stand here before you because of my aspiration to eliminate the systemic disorders that plagued James T. Vaughn," Staats told Judge William Carpenter Jr., adding that inmates were being mistreated and refused to "drown in subjugation."
Ayers, meanwhile, said he has spent "19 years being tortured."
"I chose to look the system in the eye and not flinch," he said, criticizing prosecutor Downs for "trying to get innocent men to flip on righteous men."
"It's over man, ... your career is finished," he told Downs.
Floyd's widow, Saundra, said the riot marked the beginning of an "unimaginable nightmare" from which her family has yet to awaken.
"Words will never be able to express the hurt and pain that it brought my family," she told Carpenter.
May, a devout Christian, told the court that she wanted to offer forgiveness, and to appeal for DOC officials to bring back prison programs that can help inmates.
"There needs to be forgiveness on both sides of this issue. There needs to be healing," May said.
Claire DeMatteis, who replaced Perry Phelps as DOC commissioner in July, said her agency has strengthened safety, security and training since the riot, improved internal communications, and invested in technology to help officers do their jobs better.
"There isn't a day every single officer doesn't live with this, and we will never let it happen again," she said.
Before becoming commissioner, DeMatteis, an attorney, had been tasked by Democratic Gov. John Carney with overseeing the state's response to an independent review Carney ordered after the riot.
The review found that the dismissal by DOC officials of warnings about trouble brewing at the Vaughn prison was indicative of an overcrowded, understaffed facility plagued by mismanagement, poor communication, a culture of negativity, and adversarial relationships among prison staff, administrators and inmates.
TOKYO (AP) — The American envoy to the United Nations called Friday for countries armed with atomic weapons to pursue nuclear disarmament as she visited the atomic bomb museum in Nagasaki, Japan.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who became the first U.S. cabinet member to visit Nagasaki, stressed the importance of dialogue and diplomacy amid a growing nuclear threat in the region.
“We must continue to work together to create an environment for nuclear disarmament. We must continue to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in every corner of the world,” she said after a tour of the atomic bomb museum.
“For those of us who already have those weapons, we must pursue arms control. We can and must work to ensure that Nagasaki is the last place to ever experience the horror of nuclear weapons,” she added, standing in front of colorful hanging origami cranes, a symbol of peace.
The United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people. A second attack three days later on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more people. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.
Nagasaki Gov. Kengo Oishi said in a statement that he believed Thomas-Greenfield's visit and her first-person experience at the museum “will be a strong message in promoting momentum of nuclear disarmament for the international society at a time the world faces a severe environment surrounding atomic weapons.”
Oishi said he conveyed to the ambassador the increasingly important role of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in emphasizing the need of nuclear disarmament.
Thomas-Greenfield's visit to Japan comes on the heels of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official visit to the United States last week and is aimed at deepening Washington's trilateral ties with Tokyo and Seoul. During her visit to South Korea earlier this week, she held talks with South Korean officials, met with defectors from North Korea and visited the demilitarized zone.
The ambassador said the United States is looking into setting up a new mechanism for monitoring North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Russia and China have thwarted U.S.-led efforts to step up U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile testing since 2022, underscoring a deepening divide between permanent Security Council members over Russia’s war on Ukraine.
She said it would be “optimal” to launch the new system next month, though it is uncertain if that is possible.
The U.N. Security Council established a committee to monitor sanctions, and the mandate for its panel of experts to investigate violations had been renewed for 14 years until last month, when Russia vetoed another renewal.
In its most recent report, the panel of experts said it is investigating 58 suspected North Korean cyberattacks between 2017 and 2023 valued at approximately $3 billion, with the money reportedly being used to help fund its weapons development.
The United States, Japan and South Korea have been deepening security ties amid growing tension in the region from North Korea and China.
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, right, speaks to Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, second right, as they wait for a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, right, walk to meet Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, talk prior to a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, prepare to talk during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
