Colorado prison inmate serving 30-year sentence receives $1.1M settlement following multiple assaults

DENVER — A prison inmate who sued the Colorado Department of Corrections for failing to protect him from other inmates received a $1.1 million settlement, according to court records.

Inmate John Snorsky and the Department of Corrections finalized the settlement in February. Snorsky, who is serving a 30-year sentence, was arrested in 2013 for allegedly attempting to kidnap an 8-year-old girl from her Aurora bedroom while burglarizing the home, according to previous reporting by The Denver Post.

Snorsky filed a prisoner complaint in November 2018, alleging DOC employees failed to protect him from other inmates. He stated that while his crime already was high-profile due to media attention, his cooperation and testimony in the 2015 murder investigation of inmate Joshua Edmonds at the Limon Correctional Facility put him at increased risk of violence from prison gangs.

In the handwritten complaint, Snorsky alleged that he had been repeatedly denied placement in permanent protective custody despite being assaulted multiple times.

Snorsky said that on Feb. 22, 2017, he was stabbed more than 43 times while in the Colorado State Penitentiary, resulting in permanent nerve damage, chronic pain and scarring. He alleged that approximately 15 to 20 officers “stood and watched” while he was being assaulted.

“It was a pretty horrific stabbing,” Denver attorney Erica Grossman, who was part of Snorsky’s representation in the lawsuit, said. “Officers got there and prepared to go in, which took several minutes, and he was dragged out in a pile of blood. He still suffers from PTSD and movement and hand issues. He’s a pretty talented artist so that’s hard for him.”

Grossman said Snorsky requested protective custody at least five times, including once in the week preceding the stabbing.

“John Snorsky has done everything he possibly can to be a good person in prison and to just do his time,” Grossman said. “The fact that CDOC let this happen to him with complete knowledge is pretty horrific.”

According to Grossman, Snorsky has been permanently relocated to protective custody, where he remains under the supervision of at least one officer involved in the lawsuit.

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