Retaliation Against Jailhouse Lawyer & Resulting Lockdown at Pendleton CF Fall 2023

By IDOC Watch correspondent James Phillips #106333, currently incarcerated at Wabash Valley CF in the SHU

For those who don’t know me, my name is James E. Phillips #106333, and I’ve been incarcerated for 15 years. I would like to share with you my story and all that I was subjected to, endured, and encountered while incarcerated for 15 years and while being incarcerated at Pendleton Correctional Facility. My story is a story about harassment, retaliation, pain, suffering, and injustice that almost cost me my life on many on many occasions and may very well cost me my freedom and keep me incarcerated for life.

Sometime in 2020 while incarcerated at Pendleton CF, I was assaulted and brutally stabbed by 2 inmates, and I and the 2 inmates [who had attacked me] were sent to disciplinary segregation for the incident itself. All parties involved received segregation time and [were] released after segregation time was served. Upon release, I was sent to and housed in J Cellhouse and the 2 inmates that stabbed me were sent to H Cellhouse, which is about a quarter mile away from J Cellhouse [. . .]

A month after my release from segregation, one of the inmates who stabbed me in the past was allowed out of H Cellhouse without a pass, clearance, or reason, and this inmate was allowed to walk a quarter-mile to J Cellhouse [where I was housed] and allowed entry and access to my cellhouse without a pass and/or clearance, and this inmate attacked me again. Both he and I were sent back to disciplinary segregation, and I received a conduct report and segregation time despite the entire situation being beyond my control and being the officers who allowed the inmate out of his cell and cellhouse and into my cellhouse without a pass or clearance fault. I pointed this fact out to the Disciplinary Hearing Board as well as Internal Affairs (IA) Officer Cochran when questioned about the attack, [but] I still received a conduct report and segregation time despite the incident itself technically being the officers’ fault. [. . .] If they were doing their jobs correctly that inmate would never have made it out of his cell and cellhouse, nor made it inside my cellhouse, and the incident would not have occurred and almost cost me my life again.

I filed a grievance pertaining to this incident and later filed a lawsuit for Failure to Protect in which I originally listed 2 officers and 2 internal affairs officers as defendants. After that lawsuit was filed, my cell was searched by IA Ofc. Cochoran, who was one of the defendants [. . .]. I was threatened and warned by Cochran that things could get dangerous for me and things would get worse for me if I pursued that lawsuit against him and his officers, so I got scared and removed him and the other internal affairs officer [. . .], allowing the other 2 officers to remain [as defendants . . .]. I began to be retaliated against. While in Disciplinary Segregation for the reason why I filed the lawsuit, the Facility enacted a Policy [that only applied to] Disciplinary Segregation that the possession of personal fans would be prohibited and they could no longer be purchased nor used while in G-Cellhouse Disciplinary Segregation. This policy was not enacted in General Population, meaning they could purchase, possess, and use personal fans while those in segregation could not. This Policy was enacted as an action of retaliation to punish those who violated facility rules and to retaliate and punish those in [Disciplinary Segregation].

My personal fan was confiscated in March of 2021 and I had a heat stroke on 2 separate occasions in the summer of 2021 that almost cost me my life due to it being extremely hot inside my cell and cellhouse and due to me being housed on the top range where it is hottest, The range where I was housed had windows and none of the windows were open and I was also housed inside of a cell that had a broken ventilation system, which is what the facility relied upon to circulate fresh air throughout the cell and cellhouse. There was no air conditioning or climate control, so temperatures became unbearable and extremely dangerous. During the course of suffering from extreme heat exhaustion, IA Ofc. Cochran conducted a cell search and confiscated all of my hygiene items like soap, deodorant, toothbrush, and toothpaste. [Because I had no hygiene items] I started to smell really bad due to being constantly sweaty from extreme heat. After I suffered from those two heat strokes, I was placed back in the same dangerous conditions of confinement without any way of cooling myself off and without any way of cleaning myself. Most nights I couldn’t sleep and I didn’t sleep due to it being extremely hot and due to me thinking I was going to die in my sleep if I went to sleep. I filed a grievance pertaining to this matter to no avail, and I later filed a lawsuit which I am scheduled for trial on [in several months] in Indianapolis. After filing this lawsuit I began to experience retaliation from IA Ofc. Cochran and the officers he assigned to assist him. Summary judgement was filed in the heat stroke lawsuit and that’s when Cochran really intensified his acts of retaliation at an alarming rate. Unbeknownst to me IA Ofc. Cochran started secretly retaliating against me through classification by which he arranged for me to be moved and placed in specific cells and cellhouses that were illegally equipped with listening and recording devices as well as hidden cameras to eavesdrop on what I was doing and to eavesdrop on the progress of the lawsuits I had fled against his co-workers and friends. His modus operandi was to have me moved to a cellhouse and cell illegally equipped with listening and recording devices as well as cameras and to place inmates [in cells around me] that also had the technology to hear, record, and report on my actions to him on a day to day basis and confidentially inform on me to harass me and get me [written up on] conduct reports. He also placed inmates and officers around me to target, harass, retaliate, and to harm me for filing lawsuits and for being a part of IDOC Watch, which is an organization that helps prisoners when their constitutional rights are violated. As proof of IA Ofc. Cochran’s classification movement manipulation, I submitted a movement sheet with this letter to show that he had me moved to at least three cell locations on at least three separate occasions, on at least one occasion the Warden had me moved to a specific cell location, and this [type of movement] is not normal. I was moved as an act of retaliation for filing lawsuits and for that reason alone. I was not under investigation at any time nor was I involved in anything that constituted a reason for IA Ofc. Cochran or the Warden’s involvement in where I should be moved. The only commonality between both Cochran and [Warden] Reagle’s input and involvement on my classification movements is that both of them we defendants in one of my lawsuits. Cochoran was in my Failure to protect lawsuit and [Warden] Reagle is a defendant in the lawsuit that I filed when I had the 2 heat strokes which gives both of these individuals motive for retaliation.

On July 5, 2022, summary judgement was filed on the defendants’ behalf in the lawsuit about the heat strokes in which Warden Reagle was one of the defendants and I began to notice and receive a litany of acts of retaliation a day after that summary judgement filing. On July 6, 2022 IA Ofc. Cochran along with the entire IA staff conducted a cell search and fabricated at least 4 frivolous conduct reports against me and a lot of my paperwork pertaining to my pending lawsuits were destroyed and missing. On July 21, 2022, Ofc. Canfield and Konkle let an inmate who they assigned and assisted to target, harass, retaliate and harm me out of his cell and he had a knife and an altercation occurred and I was sent to disciplinary segregation and the inmate they assigned and assisted was not sent to segregation nor did he receive a conduct report as I did. Which is very suspicious and the fact that IA Ofc. Cochran and the entire IA staff conducted a cell search and not the correctional officers that worked the cellhouse was suspicious as well.

During the course of these acts of retaliation an officer named Jacobi Jesse was also assigned to shadow me everywhere I was housed and when I was sent to G-cellhouse segregated restricted status housing for fabricated, frivolous, and untrue conduct reports he followed me to that cellhouse where he constantly subjected me to acts of retaliation and harassment like denying me my recreation and shower privileges, unplugging my personal television, denying my laundry services, denying my DHB hearings, calling me a snitch, spitting in my drinking cup, and giving me food trays that were contaminated with bugs and foreign objects and when he was not working other officers did the exact same as he did when he was away. Even while [I was] housed in disciplinary segregation IA Ofc. Cochran came to my cell and conducted cell searches personally and confiscated items that was not prohibited in solitary confinement G-cellhouse. While in disciplinary segregation I was subjected to excessive force while in handcuffs twice and I received acts of retaliation ranging from being denied commissary orders and charged for commissary orders and items that I not make or receive a refund for. My time class credits were targeted by the counselors, classification, and internal affairs Ofc. Cochran in which they were not restored when I stayed conduct-clear for 90 days as policy requires. Warden Reagle and IA Ofc. Cochran also targeted my mail and mail correspondence in which I was denied to send or receive mail and on one occasion a prison litigation book that was ordered for me was sent back to the vendor without my knowledge as an act of retaliation. I was subjected to these acts of retaliation and endured them for years including the entire time I served in solitary confinement and I was released from solitary confinement after serving nearly two years for untrue and fabricated conduct reports that totaled to 10 untrue conduct reports.

I was released from disciplinary segregation on September 28, 2023 and moved to a cellhouse and cell that internal affairs Ofc. Cochran arranged that was again equipped with illegal listening and recording devices as well as hidden cameras locked inside that cell that I discovered and destroyed. The cell I was placed in had broken plumbing and smelt really bad and Warden Reagle and internal affairs Ofc. Cochran began to do the same things that were done to me in the past again including assigning and assisting inmates and officers to retaliate against me. After being constantly tortured and retaliated against for a week straight, and a week after I was released from disciplinary segregation Warden Reagle and IA Ofc. Cochran sent officer Jacobi Jesse who is the same who is the same officer that harassed, retaliated [against], and tortured me for years while in segregation and out of segregation to harass, retaliate, and torture me again and an altercation ensued on October 6, 2023. On October 6, 2022, I was charged with attempted murder, possession of a deadly weapon and battery with serious bodily injury, and I was immediately transferred to Wabash Valley CF that same day.

I am currently being retaliated against by administration at Wabash Valley CF in which I was found guilty on the conduct report that I received for that October 6, 2023 altercation and all of my good credit time was lost from that guilty finding and DBH hearing in which I was denied my due process rights and liberty interest in calling a witness. Atop of all this I received a sanction to pay restitution of $4,994.84 for injury damages that was not that serious in nature and I received additional criminal charges of attempted murder. possession of a deadly weapon and battery with serious bodily injury.

On October 6, 2023 Pendleton Correctional Facility was placed on lockdown for 50 days in which administration at that facility retaliated against the prisoners there by denying the prisoners their recreation and showers and serving them moldy food and not allowing them to order food from commissary.

I received constant retaliation from Warden Reagle and IA Ofc. Cochran for a span of 3 years and as a direct result of their retaliation and their power and influence to get officers and prisoners to retaliate against me I have now filed at least 10 lawsuits covering everything in this letter. This is all public information.

James will be having a trial on his lawsuit about the heat strokes in Indianapolis in the coming months. Please be on the look-out for action alerts to show up in court to support him at the trial! Here are the case numbers for his active lawsuits.

Excessive Force: 1:23-cv-00046-JMS-MKK

Acts of Retaliation: 1:22-cv-02184-SEB-CSW

Head injury/tumor: 1:22-cv-02321-TWP-MKK

Contaminated Food: 1:23-cv-00412-SRS-CSW

Mental Health: 1:22-cv-02268-RLY-MKK

Write to James! Find him in the Indiana DOC database at web.connectnetwork.com, or by regular mail at:

James Phillips #106333

Wabash Valley CF

6908 S. Old Highway 41

Carlisle, IN 47838

Record of retaliatory cell moves Mr. Phillips was subjected to by Internal Affairs Ofc. Cochran and Warden Reagle in July-August 2022.