Putnamville inmate charged with Class D felony battery

PUTNAMVILLE -- An inmate at Putnamville Correctional Facility has pled guilty to and will be sentenced on a charge of Class D felony battery, while charges against another inmate implicated in the same incident have been dismissed.

Aaron W. Wood, 31, and Michael L. Campbell II, 34, both were charged in late October with Class D felony criminal gang activity. Additionally, Wood was charged with Class D felony battery resulting in bodily injury and Campbell was charged with Class D felony conspiracy to commit battery resulting in bodily injury, and both men faced habitual offender designations.

Wood accepted a plea agreement and has pled guilty to the battery charge. He will be sentenced in Putnam County Circuit Court on April 27.

The charges Campbell were dismissed earlier this week.

The charges against the inmates we connected to the assault of Putnamville Sgt. Kevin Clark, which Wood allegedly carried out on Campbell's orders.

Prison officials said Campbell was a confirmed member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a nationwide white prison gang comprised of approximately 15,000 members in and out of prison. Members of the gang have been indicted for various crimes including murder, conspiracy, drug trafficking, racketeering and dog fighting.

According to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, although the gang makes up less than 1 percent of the prison population, it is responsible for up to 26 percent of murders in the federal prison system.

Further investigation showed Campbell was not involved in the incident, and that Wood was not a member of the Aryan Brotherhood.

"He testified he was not a member of the gang, had never been a member of the gang and doesn't want to be a member of the gang," Putnam County Deputy Prosecutor James Hanner.

Wood is serving a 10-year sentence for Class B felony dealing in cocaine or narcotics and a three-year sentence for Class D felony dealing in marijuana. He was convicted on both charges on Aug. 27, 2007. His projected release date is Aug. 24, 2017.