Former West Virginia jail supervisor sentenced in coverup of assault
that led to inmate's death
[May 16, 2025]
By JOHN RABY
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — An ex-jail supervisor in West Virginia was
sentenced Thursday to more than 17 years in federal prison for his role
in the coverup of an assault by other corrections officers that led to
an inmate's death.
Former Lt. Chad Lester was convicted in January of three felony
obstruction of justice charges related to the March 2022 attack on
Southern Regional Jail inmate Quantez Burks.
Burks, 37, was a pretrial detainee who died less than a day after he was
booked into the jail in Beaver on a wanton endangerment charge.
According to court documents, Burks tried to push past an officer to
leave his housing unit. Burks then was escorted to an interview room
where officers hit him while he was restrained and handcuffed.
Prosecutors said Lester gave false statements to investigators and told
subordinate officers to do the same. Lester also threatened officers
with violence and retaliation and added false statements to several
officers’ reports. A jury convicted Lester on charges of giving false
statements, witness tampering and conspiracy to tamper with witnesses.
“On the defendant’s watch, correctional officers killed an inmate, and
the defendant conspired with them to cover up their crimes,” Lisa
Johnston, acting U.S. attorney for West Virginia's southern district,
said in a statement. “The defendant violated the public’s trust in the
law enforcement system he had sworn to uphold.”
Seven other correctional officers have pleaded guilty in connection with
the assault. Several testified against Lester during his trial.
Officer Steven Nicholas Wimmer was sentenced last week to nine years in
prison for conspiring to use unreasonable force against Burks. Four
others face sentencing on the same charge later this year. Two other
officers are set for sentencing next month for their guilty pleas to
violating the civil rights of Burks by failing to intervene in the
assault.
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The Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, W.Va., is seen in this undated
photo. (Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald via AP, File)
The state medical examiner’s office attributed Burks’ primary cause
of death to natural causes, prompting his family to have a private
autopsy conducted. The family’s attorney revealed at a news
conference in late 2022 that the second autopsy found Burks had
multiple areas of blunt force trauma on his body.
The case drew scrutiny to conditions and deaths at the jail, where
news outlets had reported there were more than a dozen deaths in
2022.
In November 2023, West Virginia agreed to pay $4 million to settle a
class-action lawsuit filed by inmates who described conditions at
the jail as inhumane. The lawsuit cited such complaints as a lack of
access to water and food at the facility, as well as overcrowding
and fights that were allowed to continue until someone was injured.
The administration of then-Gov. Jim Justice fired former Division of
Corrections and Rehabilitation Executive Officer Brad Douglas and
Homeland Security Chief Counsel Phil Sword after a federal
magistrate judge cited the “intentional” destruction of records in
recommending a default judgment in the lawsuit. That followed a
hearing in October 2023 in which former and current corrections
officials, including some defendants in the lawsuit, said no steps
had been taken to preserve evidence at the jail, including emails
and documents.
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