Last defendant sentenced from 2022 prison-yard fight with Maryland correctional officers

The last co-defendant in a 2022 prison-yard fight at Roxbury Correctional Institution south of Hagerstown was sentenced Monday to nine months after pleading guilty to second-degree assault against a Maryland Division of Corrections officer.

Christopher Firor, 41, told Washington County Circuit Court Judge Dana Moylan Wright that he jumped on a correctional officer because he feared if he didn't he would be stabbed or killed by one of the organizations in prison.

Firor said inmates in the housing unit were yelling for him to get the officer off of someone else.

"I'm just trying to make it out of there in one piece," Firor told Wright.

Assistant State's Attorney Michelle Flores told Wright that once correctional officers had control of other inmates involved in the fight, that's when Firor became involved by jumping on the back of one of the officers. That also knocked a second officer down.

Correctional officers were able to control Firor quickly, Flores said.

Wright told Firor that she hadn't anticipated considering a sentence of a year or less for him. She said she was shocked that the main participant in the fight received only four years and two co-defendants got 18 months.

But, Wright said, after hearing from Firor she decided to sentence him to nine months consecutive to the sentence he's serving. The judge said she understands the personal risk people deal with in state prison from organizations like gangs. She also cited Flores' mentioning that Firor jumped off the officer and laid on the ground.

Defense attorney Andrea Cheeatow, representing Firor as a paneled attorney for the public defender's office, said Firor is serving about a 10-year sentence in another case and is expecting to finish that in January.

Firor said that sentence is for violating probation related to a credit card scheme case.

Both of Firor's parents died while he was in prison and he's dealing with his own health issues, according to Firor and Cheeatow.

Firor said he hopes to get into an addictions program.

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The prison yard fight and the other co-defendants

The July 17, 2022, incident started when a sixth inmate was noncompliant and struggled with officers when there was an attempt to handcuff him.

Four other inmates engaged "staff in an aggressive" manner, according to court documents.

The assaults on officers included co-defendant Devahn McFadden wrapping his arm around the neck of one officer and trying to choke him. The officer told an investigator he started to hit McFadden because he was losing his breath, court records state.

McFadden, 31, in Washington County District Court in August last year, was sentenced to an additional four years in state prison. McFadden had been found guilty of second-degree assault against a Division of Corrections employee during a July 26, 2023, trial.

The maximum prison sentence for second-degree assault against a correctional officer is 10 years.

The five inmates were previously transferred to other state prisons following the incident.

The incident led to four officers "requiring nonemergency medical evaluation," according to court records. Charging documents describe fights in which at least five prison officers were assaulted.

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Co-defendants Avon Taylor, 38, and Franklin Evans, 33, were each sentenced to an additional 18 months in state prison in April 2023 after pleading guilty to second-degree assault of a Division of Corrections employee.

A charge of second-degree assault against a Division of Corrections employee was dropped in April against co-defendant Dominetreous Anthony, 37.

Washington County States Attorney Gina Cirincion, in an April email, said the charge was dropped against Anthony because he was in a coma and had been medically paroled.

Firor pleads after earlier delays

During Monday's plea hearing, Flores said Firor had been ready to take a plea since 2022. The case was continued "so many times" because the public defender's office needed to find a private attorney it could panel in the case, she said.

Angela Oetting, District Public Defender for Washington and Frederick counties, said in an email Monday afternoon that the Maryland Office of the Public Defender "is committed to preserving our clients' rights to speedy trials and never wants to cause undue delays in cases.

"However, due to a limited number of panel attorneys interested in accepting cases in Washington County and the number of co-defendants involved in this case, it did take several months to find representation for Mr. Firor," Oetting said.

Unfortunately, another private attorney had a conflict of interest in the case and it had to be repaneled, Oetting said. Cheeatow accepted the case in May.

"Thankfully, Mr. Firor was not held on this case pending its resolution and of course we appreciate that Ms. Cheeatow was able to resolve his case for him," Oetting said.

Oetting said any Maryland-barred attorneys who want to apply for panel opportunities in Washington County or elsewhere in the state can visit the public defender's website at https://opd.state.md.us/panel-attorneys .

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Last defendant sentenced from 2022 prison-yard fight with Maryland correctional officers