Prison Assault Adds 15-Year Sentence for Oak Park Heights Inmate
via Minnesota Department of Corrections
Curtez Deshawn Graham, 29, was sentenced to an additional 15 years in prison on Tuesday for aiding and abetting first-degree assault of a correctional employee.
The sentence stems from charges after a March 7, 2023, incident where Graham and another inmate, Jeremy Carpenter, attacked correctional staff in Complex 3 at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Oak Park Heights.
According to court documents, the altercation began when Carpenter, upset after being told to return to his assigned unit, spit at a correctional sergeant before kicking and punching them. Graham then joined the assault, striking the sergeant in the head, causing serious injuries, including multiple nasal fractures and ongoing symptoms of a traumatic brain injury. When other officers arrived to assist, Graham punched one officer unconscious and, with Carpenter, struck another officer, inflicting additional injuries.
According to the criminal complaint, it’s believed that the sergeant will have to retire from their position due to the extent of injuries they suffered during the assault.
Graham later pled guilty and agreed to the mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years to run consecutively to his current sentence. Graham is currently serving a 25 1/2 year prison sentence for breaking into a home while on furlough from prison that he had previously burglarized twice. Graham cut off his ankle monitor and returned to the home, where he ordered the male inside to tie himself up and then sexually assaulted the 65-year-old female resident out of revenge.
Graham is now expected to be released from prison in 2041.
Carpenter also pleaded guilty in August to first-degree assault against a correctional employee. He is scheduled for sentencing on October 31.
> See more of our latest coverage
