Family Suing Prison Officials in Inmate's Death

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) - Family members of an inmate who died at the Western Correctional Institution in Allegany County are going to court.

They've filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in Greenbelt seeking $28 million in damages for the April 30 death of Ifeanyi Iko.

Iko died shortly after a group of officers used force to remove him from an isolation cell. An attorney for the family claims guards illegally used deadly force. And the lawsuit accuses Warden Jon Galley, Lieutenant James Shreve and six correctional officers of trying to cover up the circumstances of Iko's death.

An autopsy found Iko was asphyxiated.

The suit also claims prison administrators failed to discipline or prosecute guards who used brutality.

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating inmate claims of abuse by officers at the prison, and the FBI is investigating Iko's death.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)