Denver, Colorado – A $1.1 million settlement has been reached between the Colorado Department of Corrections and inmate John Snorsky, who is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence for an attempted kidnapping in Aurora in 2013. This settlement is believed to be one of the largest, if not the largest, in the history of the Colorado DOC.
Snorsky filed a federal lawsuit alleging that state employees failed to protect him from a violent prison gang within the Colorado prison system. The lawsuit claims that after Snorsky agreed to cooperate with investigators looking into the 2015 murder of another inmate, he was repeatedly subjected to brutal assaults by fellow prisoners.
In one incident in 2017, three inmates violently attacked Snorsky inside the Colorado State Penitentiary, stabbing him 43 times. Denver attorney Erica Grossman, who represented Snorsky in the lawsuit, stated that the attack was a direct result of Snorsky’s collaboration with investigators on the murder case.
Despite Snorsky’s pleas for protective custody, he was allegedly left vulnerable by DOC employees, leading to a series of assaults and attacks. The lawsuit, originally handwritten by Snorsky himself, detailed how prison staff members reportedly watched as Snorsky was brutally assaulted by other inmates.
Snorsky’s kidnapping case in 2013 garnered significant local media attention, resulting in a 30-year sentence with no eligibility for parole for another decade. It remains unclear how the settlement money will be distributed to an inmate still serving a lengthy sentence within the system he sued. This case raises questions about the responsibility of correctional institutions to ensure the safety of inmates, especially those who cooperate with authorities.