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| Sentence upheld in stabbings of officers |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 05/18/2006 |
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INDIANAPOLIS, IN - A federal appeals court ruled that a prison inmate who admitted he was guilty of stabbing four officers with sharpened metal rods cannot withdraw his plea just because he changed his mind. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago on Wednesday upheld an Indianapolis federal judge's decision adding 20 years to Thomas Walker's prison sentence. Walker, 35, an inmate at the federal prison in Terre Haute, sneaked up behind officer Joseph Sims and stabbed him twice in the back as Walker returned from the recreation yard in July 2004, according to federal prosecutors. Three other officers caught him after he ran down a hallway, but Walker also managed to stab them with 8-inch sharpened rods before he was subdued, court records said. All four officers were treated at a local hospital. Walker, who was serving a 28-year sentence for a 2000 bank robbery conviction, told an FBI agent that the attack had been intended as an escape attempt. Walker pleaded guilty without a formal agreement, but a few days later tried to recant. He said he had changed his plea because he was distraught after the judge refused his request to transfer the case to Indianapolis. The appeals court ruled that Judge Larry McKinney had correctly calculated Walker's sentence according to federal guidelines. |
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