AP Investigation: Prison boss beat inmates, climbed ranks

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and MICHAEL BALSAMO
Associated Press

A senior official at the federal Bureau of Prisons has been repeatedly promoted, most recently to one of the highest posts in the agency. And this has happened despite his being accused of beating multiple Black inmates in the 1990s. Since then, people who know Thomas Ray Hinkle say he has repeatedly boasted about the beatings and being part of a violent, racist group of officers that called themselves “The Cowboys.” An Associated Press investigation has found the Bureau of Prisons has continued to promote Hinkle despite numerous red flags. It rewarded him again and again over a three-decade career while others who assaulted inmates lost their jobs and went to prison.