On April 22, 2024, an inmate at FCI Butner Low in Butner, North Carolina was physically assaulted by prison staff in the Lieutenant's Office — and the assault was serious enough that federal prosecutors, working with the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General, indicted four Bureau of Prisons employees for civil rights violations. The case represents one of the clearest recent examples of documented staff-on-inmate abuse at a federal facility and the accountability that followed.
The Four Indicted
Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of North Carolina charged four BOP employees:
- Brandon Hayes — Bureau of Prisons Lieutenant
- Brandon Jones — Bureau of Prisons Lieutenant
- Darryl Campbell — Bureau of Prisons Lieutenant
- Brandon Evans — former BOP SIS (Special Investigative Services) Technician
All four were indicted and arrested on charges of deprivation of rights under color of law — the federal statute that applies when government officials violate a person's constitutional rights through their official authority. In a prison context, this charge applies to officers who use excessive force against incarcerated people.
The Guilty Plea and Sentence
In December 2024, Lieutenant Daniel Mitchell (listed in some accounts as distinct from the four above, but involved in the same course of conduct) pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the civil rights of an inmate at FCI Butner Medium II by directing a correctional officer to physically assault him. In April 2025, Mitchell was sentenced to two years of probation.
The probation sentence drew criticism from advocates who argued it did not reflect the gravity of the offense — the use of a position of authority over a captive person to direct their physical assault. Prison violence committed by officers is qualitatively different from other crimes because it exploits the power relationship inherent in incarceration: the inmate cannot defend themselves, cannot call for help from anyone other than the officers surrounding them, and has no avenue of immediate escape.
The DOJ's Role: OIG Investigation
The indictment followed an investigation by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) — the federal watchdog that investigates misconduct within DOJ components including the Bureau of Prisons. The OIG's involvement signals that the assault was documented, corroborated, and serious enough to proceed criminally rather than being handled through internal BOP discipline alone.
OIG investigations into BOP staff misconduct are relatively rare — most inmate complaints about officer abuse do not result in criminal referrals. The Butner prosecution is meaningful because it represents the accountability pathway functioning as designed: documented abuse, external investigation, criminal charge, and conviction.
What Families Should Know
If your loved one is at FCI Butner Low or any federal facility and reports being physically abused by staff:
- Document everything in writing immediately: Date, time, officers involved, what happened, any injuries. Written, contemporaneous records are the foundation of any subsequent investigation.
- File a BP-8 / BP-9 administrative remedy: The federal inmate administrative remedy process requires exhausting internal grievances before external action. File immediately.
- Contact the DOJ OIG directly: The Office of the Inspector General accepts complaints about BOP staff misconduct at oig.justice.gov/hotline. This goes outside the BOP chain of command.
- Contact an attorney: A civil rights attorney can advise on both the administrative remedy process and potential civil litigation. Federal Defenders in the Eastern District of North Carolina have resources for incarcerated people.
FCI Butner Low: Old NC Highway 75, Butner, NC 27509. BOP main line for inmate information: (800) 831-1134. Website: bop.gov.