Attorney General Marty Jackley says two South Dakota Penitentiary inmates have been sentenced to additional time in prison after they had earlier been found guilty of assaulting two correctional officers at the South Dakota Penitentiary in 2023.
“These correctional officers were violently assaulted while doing their job,” said Attorney General Jackley. “This type of behavior against DOC staff or other inmates will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted.”
Inmates, 49 year old Lester M. Monroe and 31 year old Kyle L. Jones were sentenced Friday in Minnehaha County Circuit Court. The two had been found guilty In November, 2024 of Attempted First Degree Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer and Aggravated Assault of a Department of Corrections Employee. Kyle Jones also was found guilty of a separate count of Simple Assault of a Department of Corrections Employee.
Monroe was sentenced to an additional 35 years in prison on his two charges. That will be served consecutively after he completes the seven years remaining on his current sentence on charges of Simple Assault on Law Enforcement out of Minnehaha County and Receiving/Transferring a Stolen Vehicle out of Bennett County.
Jones was sentenced to an additional 50 years in prison on his three charges. That will be served consecutively after he completes his current sentence on charges of First-Degree Manslaughter, Eluding a Police Officer, and Unauthorized Ingestion of a Controlled Substance, all out of Minnehaha County. His initial sentence does not end until 2063.
The August 24, 2023 incident occurred in Unit D of the Jameson Annex in Sioux Falls. Both officers were treated and released.
The State Division of Criminal Investigation and Department of Corrections Special Investigations Unit investigated the incident. The Attorney General’s Office handled the prosecution.