CHARLESTON, W.Va. –The last former correctional officer at Southern Regional Jail learned his fate Monday afternoon for his role in the 2022 beating death of an inmate.
Andrew Fleshman, 23, was sentenced to over eight years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Frank Volk.
In November 2023, Fleshman pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the rights of citizens under U.S. Code Title 18, section 241, admitting his role in the February 2022 death of Quantez Burks.
Judge Volk credited Fleshman for being the first correctional officer to come forward, which helped the case move forward with an indictment against the other officers in the matter, despite his initial lack of cooperation.
Prior to sentencing, Matthew Bradford Fleshman’s lawyer requested a sentence of just over seven years. However, Judge Volk denied the request, stating that he did not believe the proposed sentence was sufficient.
Quantez Burks ,37, was arrested on February 28, 2022, and charged with wanton endangerment and obstructing an officer. He had been in jail for 24 hours when he was beaten by eight correctional officers. He died the following day, on March 1.
According to court documents, Fleshman, along with Steven Wimmer another correctional officer, had responded to a call for assistance after Burks allegedly tried to push past a corrections officer and leave Southern Regional Jail’s C-Pod.
When Fleshman and the other officer arrived, Burks was on the floor and another officer restrained and handcuffed him. Burks was later taken to an interview room where the officers “aided and abetted by each other, struck and otherwise assaulted and injured Quantez Burks to punish him while he was restrained, handcuffed and while he posed no threat to anyone.”
Fleshman admitted that he and the other officers struck and injured Burks as punishment for attempting to leave his assigned pod.
Kimberly Burks, Quantez’s mother, gave an emotional impact statement during court, detailing the horrific abuse her son endured while restrained. She said he was beaten and bruised from head to toe.
After the sentencing, Burks said that after three and a half years, the family is as satisfied as they can be, given the circumstances.
“We got sentences, we got justice, we did well, we fought for it, its been hard, we’re satisfied as much as we can be,” Burks told MetroNews outside of the Robert C. Byrd Courthouse in Charleston.
Kiera Cooper, Burks’ daughter, also spoke in court, describing the past three and half years as a nightmare.
Later, she told MetroNews that she hopes they can find some closure moving forward.
“We can finally try to get closure, at lease the best we can,” Cooper said outside the courthouse.
Burks said they will continue to share Quantez’s story in hopes of sending a message to others, though she admitted she’s not optimistic, as similar incidents continue to happen.
“Hopefully it’ll send a message but is it over, no, because they’ll continue to do it because they continue to get by with it,” she said.
Now that sentencings are over, Burks hopes that, along with finding some closure, the family can take time to sit and reflect on everything that has happened since that day.
“Maybe we can sit back and relax for a minute and just soak in everything that’s been happening the last three and half years, there’s still some unfairness in it but we’re going to take what we got,” she said.
Fleshman’s sentence joins those of the other former correctional officers and one former lieutenant who were also sentenced this year. Jacob Boothe was sentenced to three years, Ashley Toney to six years, Steven Wimmer to nine years, Mark Holdren to 20 years, Jonathan Walters to 21 years and former lieutenant and former lieutenant Chad Lester, the only one to go to trial, was sentenced to 17.5 years in federal prison.