BECKLEY, W.Va. –A former correctional officer at Southern Regional Jail has been sentenced for his role in an assault that resulted in the death of an inmate.
Steven Nicholas Wimmer, 25 of Bluefield has been sentenced to nine years in prison for the death of inmate Quantez Burks in March 2022. His sentence will be followed by three years supervised release.
Wimmer, pleaded guilty to conspiring with other officers to use unreasonable force against Burks, who is identified in court documents as Q.B. As part of Wimmer’s plea deal, he acknowledged that he had responded to a call an officer had put out for assistance with Q.B. after he had tried to push past another correctional officer.
Wimmer, along with other officers, restrained Q.B. and proceeded to take him to an interview room and beat and injured him while he was restrained, handcuffed, and posed no threat to anyone. Wimmer further admitted to being member of the conspiracy who injured Q.B. while he was restrained.
Andrew Fleshman, 22, also pleaded guilty in November 2023, to conspiring with other officers to use unreasonable force against Q.B. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 15.
Mark Holdren, Corey Snyder, and Jonathan Walters, all former correctional officers, pleaded guilty in November 2024, to using unreasonable force against Q.B. resulting in his death. They will be sentenced on June 16.
In August 2024, Ashley Toney and Jacob Booth pleaded guilty to violating Q.B.’s civil rights by not intervening when other officers used unreasonable force. Toney and Booth will be sentenced on June 9.
And in January 2025, a federal jury convicted former lieutenant Chad Lester of three obstruction of justice charges for his role in conspiring to cover Q.B.’s death up.