Adam Graham Charged in Jail Abuse Cover-Up

Elkins correctional officer Adam Joseph Neal Graham, 26, has been indicted on federal charges for beating two pretrial detainees at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail and then lying to cover it up. The three-count indictment unsealed in West Virginia accuses Graham of using excessive force as punishment and submitting a falsified incident report to obstruct justice.

Graham, a former officer at TVRJ, allegedly assaulted the first detainee on February 15, 2015, inflicting physical injuries while acting under color of law. Just weeks later, on March 9, 2015, prosecutors say he repeated the crime against a second detainee—striking and injuring the man during incarceration. Both victims were held without conviction at the time, making the attacks clear violations of their constitutional rights.

Instead of reporting the incidents truthfully, Graham is accused of filing a false report designed to shield himself from accountability. Authorities say the document misrepresented the events, concealing his use of unlawful force. That act forms the basis of the obstruction charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Each count of violating a detainee’s civil rights through bodily harm carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. If convicted on all counts, Graham could face decades behind bars—ironically, as an inmate in the same system he once patrolled.

The case is being handled by Special Litigation Counsel Gerard Hogan and Trial Attorney Olimpia E. Michel from the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section, alongside Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah W. Montoro of the Northern District of West Virginia. The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation, which has taken years to reach indictment.

An indictment is not a conviction. Adam Joseph Neal Graham, of Elkins, West Virginia, is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The case now moves toward trial, where federal prosecutors will present evidence of abuse and deception under the full weight of federal civil rights law.