Accountability.
Former Texas Department of Criminal Justice correctional officer Samuel Lee Thomas IV pleaded guilty May 19, 2026, to conspiring to assault an incarcerated man at the Hodge Unit in Rusk.
According to Thomas’ plea agreement, he was on duty February 25, 2025, when he opened the man’s cell and allowed other members of the conspiracy to enter and strike him. Prosecutors said the assault was retaliation after the incarcerated man spit on Thomas two days earlier. The victim suffered bodily injury.
Thomas, 26, entered the plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge John D. Love. The offense carries a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. A sentencing date had not been announced in the cited reporting.