Correctional officer pleads guilty to covering up assault

A Maryland correctional officer pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to obstruct justice after covering up evidence that a fellow officer had unlawfully assaulted an inmate, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Maryland.

Daric Evans, 32, of Crisfield, was a correctional officer at Eastern Correctional Institution and learned in July 2021 that another officer had used force against an inmate, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

Evans then went to the scene and helped other correctional officers escort the inmate to a medical evaluation, according to Evans’ guilty plea. The inmate cried and was visibly injured with blood on his face during the evaluation, the plea says.

The inmate said he had been assaulted by a correctional officer, Samuel Warren, while correctional officer David Quillen was filming, according to the guilty plea.

Then, Evans and several other correctional officers took the inmate to a cell for a monitored strip search, during which the inmate was compliant and crying as Quillen continued to film, the plea says.

After the search, Evans and other correctional officers watched Quillen’s video of the inmate, according to the plea, and a supervisory officer commented that the video looked bad and needed to be deleted.

Evans said in his plea agreement that Quillen agreed to delete the video, and Evans said he knew Quillen did so. Additionally, the supervisory officer created a cover story for why the video had gone missing, and Evans and other officers agreed to lie about the deletion, the plea says.

In August 2022, Evans lied to investigators about what happened to the video, according to his plea.

Evans worked at the prison “from 2017 to 2024,” according to the plea agreement. It did not say how far into 2024 he worked.

Evans is on leave, and the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services is in the process of terminating him due to his guilty plea, said LaToya Gray, a Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services’ spokesperson.

Evans’ attorney did not have any comment on behalf of his client. Online records don’t show an attorney for Warren, and Quillen’s attorney wasn’t available for comment Wednesday.

Evans said in his plea agreement that he felt pressure from his fellow officers to lie because the culture of the Eastern Correctional Institution was to protect other officers.

Now, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for the conspiracy to obstruct justice. His sentencing will be June 27.

Warren pleaded guilty to federal offenses related to the assault and is scheduled for sentencing June 11. Quillen pleaded guilty to federal offenses related to the deletion of the video and is scheduled to be sentenced May 22.

Quillen resigned Thursday, and Warren resigned March 8, Gray said.