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Oregon Guard Pleads Guilty to Perjury
Aformer Oregon prison corporal pleaded guilty to one count of perjury on April 17, 1998, after prosecutors offered to downgrade the felony perjury charge to a misdemeanor. The guard, Cpl. Ronald Robertson, 32, was sentenced to two days in jail and 36 months probation.
Robertson was fired by the Oregon DOC in February after an indictment named him and four other guards at the Oregon State Penitentiary's Intensive Management Unit (IMU), alleging a pattern of brutalizing prisoners and lying to cover it up. In addition to the five indicted guards, four others were fired or quit as a result of a joint investigation by the Oregon State Police and Department of Corrections.
The investigation began in 1997 when another guard, Christine Cilley, alerted officials that she had witnessed illegal force being used on IMU prisoners. According to state police sources, the investigation was launched after Cilley passed a lie-detector test. Cilley later resigned her prison job.
Aside from Robinson, two other guards pleaded guilty and a third was convicted on charges ranging from official misconduct to perjury. Charges against one other guard are still pending.
The Oregonian
Robertson was fired by the Oregon DOC in February after an indictment named him and four other guards at the Oregon State Penitentiary's Intensive Management Unit (IMU), alleging a pattern of brutalizing prisoners and lying to cover it up. In addition to the five indicted guards, four others were fired or quit as a result of a joint investigation by the Oregon State Police and Department of Corrections.
The investigation began in 1997 when another guard, Christine Cilley, alerted officials that she had witnessed illegal force being used on IMU prisoners. According to state police sources, the investigation was launched after Cilley passed a lie-detector test. Cilley later resigned her prison job.
Aside from Robinson, two other guards pleaded guilty and a third was convicted on charges ranging from official misconduct to perjury. Charges against one other guard are still pending.
The Oregonian
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