WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) - Four former inmates at a maximum-security prison in Massachusetts have pleaded not guilty to charges in connection with a riot that destroyed a housing unit.
Telegram & Gazette reports (https://bit.ly/2vZd4No ) the men, now held at another prison, were arraigned Wednesday on charges that include vandalism and disturbing a correctional institution. Fifteen inmates face charges.
The January riot at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center started with a fight between two inmates and escalated when 47 other inmates refused to return to their cells. Officials say inmates used fire extinguishers to destroy computers and camera systems.
Prison officials say the disturbance ended three hours later after state police filled the unit with pepper spray.
Former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez had been an inmate at the prison at the time. Hernandez killed himself in April.
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Information from: Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass.), https://www.telegram.com
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