Inmate Sentenced to Life after Brutal Attack
Posted/updated on: April 15, 2013 at 10:56 am
PALESTINE — After 30 minutes of deliberations, an Anderson County jury handed down a life sentence to a Coffield Unit inmate Thursday for his involvement in the October 2009 assault of a corrections officer. According to the Palestine Herald, Benny Palomo, 31, was the second of three inmates to be convicted in the case.
On Oct. 19, 2009, inmate Raymond Sotelo, 26, had refused the order of corrections officer Eric Christiansen and the officer told him to returned to his cell. The inmate said “make me,” prompting Christiansen to cuff Sotelo. As he was doing so, Sotelo turned around and punched Christiansen in the face. Palomo immediately jumped in and the two took the officer to the ground. A third defendant also joined in, kicking the officer in the face and head repeatedly. During the incident, Christiansen received a black eye, bloody nose, abrasions to the side of the head and forehead and a slight concussion. The three fled and an extraction team came and took the inmates.
Sotelo was tried March 26 and 27 and was sentenced to the maximum 20 years. The trial for the third inmate involved in the case has been scheduled for June.
