Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 36-year-old Jessie Engles was sentenced this morning before State Supreme Court Justice Paul B. Wojtaszek to an indeterminate sentence of 16 years to life in prison. He was sentenced today as a persistent violent felony offender.

On June 25, 2017, at approximately 5:00 p.m., the defendant hit a correctional officer in the head with a medical monitor. At the time of the incident, the defendant was a state inmate incarcerated at the Attica Correctional Facility who was receiving medical treatment at ECMC.

The attack caused the correctional officer to fall to the ground, resulting in serious physical injuries to his head, hip and right arm. He continues to undergo treatment for the injuries.

Justice Wojtaszek found the defendant guilty of one count of Assault on a Peace Officer, Police Officer, Fireman or Emergency Services Professional (Class “C” violent felony) and one count of Assault in the Second Degree (Class “D” violent felony) after a two-day bench trial in August 2021.

“I hope that the victim in this case feels that justice has been served by this defendant being convicted and potentially spending the rest of his life in prison for this violent crime. My office will continue to prosecute any inmate who attacks a correctional officer to the fullest extent of the law,” said Erie County DA John Flynn.

DA Flynn commends the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and the Hospital Public Safety Officers at ECMC for their work in the investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Rachel Kranitz McPhee of the Special Victims/Domestic Violence Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Ryan M. Flaherty of the Felony Trials Bureau.