LEBANON, Ohio – Eleven Warren County inmates with ties to gang members were indicted Monday for their roles in a large prison fight, authorities said.
The inmates were in the dayroom area of their cell block in the Warren Correctional Institution on July 22, 2015 when they began fighting over the use of telephones, investigators said.
The fight at the facility -- in Turtlecreek Township near Lebanon -- escalated and involved several members from the Aryan Brotherhood and the Cincinnati Wild Boys, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
The following inmates were each indicted for two counts of aggravated riot:
- Matthew E. Hoker, 23, who is serving a sentence for aggravated vehicular homicide from Greene County, Ohio;
- Thomas Reddy, 22, who is serving a sentence for failure to comply and receiving stolen property from Hamilton County, Ohio;
- Roger Lee Cook, 25, who is serving a sentence for trafficking in drugs from Brown County, Ohio;
- Chip Allen Mills, 23, who is serving sentences for burglary, receiving stolen property, and breaking and entering from Miami County, Ohio;
- Juran J. Smith, 29, who is serving sentences for burglary, forgery, and theft from Muskingum County, Ohio;
- Donald E. Morgan, 34, who is serving a sentence for burglary and theft from Warren County, Ohio;
- Javarr Wilder, 18, who is serving a sentence for aggravated robbery from Montgomery County, Ohio;
- Glenn Joseph Chasteen, 27, who is serving a sentence for carrying a concealed weapon, receiving stolen property, robbery, and weapons under disability from Butler County, Ohio;
- Adam Fowler, 27, who is serving a sentence for breaking and entering and theft from Butler County, Ohio;
- Bryan Puckett, 30, who is serving a sentence for felonious assault from Butler County, Ohio; and
- Conrad B. Iles, 23, who is serving a sentence for burglary and breaking and entering from Hamilton County, Ohio.
Each man faces a maximum of 36 months additional prison time if convicted. The inmates have all been transferred to The Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio.
They will be arraigned in Warren County Common Pleas Court within the next few days, Warren County Prosecutor David P. Fornshell said.
“We take crimes committed at these institutions very seriously and certainly want to do everything possible to insure the safety of the corrections officers and other staff members that work there,” he said.
The prison, with 1,390 inmates, is one of the most violent in the state in terms of number of assaults, according to the Associated Press.
Editor's note: While the Cincinnati White Boys is a gang that exists, reports from the correctional facility, prosecutor and state highway patrol identify the Cincinnati Wild Boys (not the White Boys) as the involved party.
