Milwaukee jail health workers charged with falsifying prisoner medical records

Milwaukee County prosecutors on Wednesday charged the county jail’s health care contractor with falsifying records, arguing the company’s workers regularly said they check on inmates when they didn’t.

A criminal complaint alleges Armor Correctional employees neglected to check on inmates, including Terrill Thomas, who died of dehydration while in custody, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

“Had Armor Correctional medical staff actually performed the assessments that they falsely recorded in Mr. Thomas’ patient health care records, medical staff may have identified Mr. Thomas’ fatal medical distress,” the complaint states.

{mosads}The complaint alleges that one employee logged Thomas’ blood pressure and pulse twice on April 21, 2016, but video footage from the Milwaukee County Jail showed no one had contact with Thomas in that time period.

Armor Correctional told the Journal Sentinel that the charges “are based upon the alleged failures of three individuals,” and are not reflective of the company.

Thomas’s death occurred while then-Sheriff David Clarke Jr. oversaw the jail. Clarke left his post in 2017 amid speculation he would join the Trump administration. He later took a job with a super PAC supporting the president.

Clarke, a vocal supporter of Trump’s, has attacked the media and pushed conspiracy theories on social media, including on Wednesday when he suggested Democratic billionaire George Soros was behind Florida high school students’ anti-gun violence protests.