Feds settle lawsuit by inmate who was assaulted while in custody

DENVER - A Canon City inmate who was severely beaten while in federal custody will receive $125,000 to settle a lawsuit against the federal government.

The Pueblo Chieftain reported on Sunday that it had received a federal document showing that the government and the inmate, who has not been named, have settled the lawsuit.

The inmate sued because the U.S. marshals are responsible for inmates in federal custody. He was in a holding cell while waiting to testify as a prosecution witness in 2005.

He reported injuries to his brain and liver.

Last year four other Colorado inmates were sentenced to up to 10 more years in prison for the attack.

Marshals put the victim in a cell with two inmates who were friends of two defendants who were on trial in the case in which he was a witness. A recording from a security video camera aimed at the cells shows the two cell mates attacking the victim.