Toledo Correctional inmate sentenced for attacking prison guard

3/6/2014

Story updated at 6:59 p.m. on Thursday, March 6, 2014.

An inmate at Toledo Correctional Institution who put a corrections officer in intensive care was sentenced to eight years in prison today for the unprovoked attack inside the prison.

Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Ruth Ann Franks cited his “disturbing violent history of offenses” when she ordered that Marquise Perry, 28, serve those eight years consecutive to the sentences he already is serving for involuntary manslaughter and attempted murder from where he is from in Franklin County.

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He also will serve the sentence consecutive to those imposed for seven other felony convictions he has received while an inmate at various state prisons.

Perry, who has been involved in altercations in the Lucas County jail since he was transferred there three months ago, pleaded guilty Feb. 25 to felonious assault for the attack on Sarah Roggelin as they passed on a stairwell Nov. 23.

Lindsay Navarre, an assistant Lucas County prosecutor, said Ms. Roggelin was knocked unconscious with the first blow, but Perry continued to pummel her, punching her at least 17 times. The incident was caught on videotape, officials said.

With a large number of family, friends, and co-workers in the courtroom, Ms. Roggelin told the court how that attack had damaged her physical and mental health as well as her ability to work.

“You Inmate Perry will never change,” Ms. Roggelin said. “You will always be a violent predator that relies on scare tactics to get your way. You need to be locked in a cell 23 hours out of everyday where the only person you can hurt is yourself.”

Before imposing the maximum sentence, Judge Franks noted that prison guards do not carry guns.

“They walk really with a careful foot, watching each other in such a dangerous situation,” she said. “Clearly this defendant, by his conduct, not by word, but by his conduct has told corrections facilities that he’s violent, he’s dangerous, he’s focused on hurting other people.”