A former inmate has filed a lawsuit claiming he suffered permanent kidney damage after a grueling exercise regimen during a youthful offender boot camp at the Wyoming State Penitentiary.
In the recent lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Cheyenne, Logan Gosselin, 23, of Colorado has accused Wyoming Department of Corrections Director Daniel Shannon, former Wyoming State Penitentiary Warden Neicole Molden, and several prison employees and medical professionals of negligence and violating constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
Officials with the Wyoming Department of Corrections declined Monday to comment on the active litigation.
In October 2023, Gosselin was sentenced in Laramie County District Court to three to eight years in prison for one count of sexual exploitation of a child for possessing child pornography.
Gosselin was ordered to Wyoming’s Youthful Offender Transition Program (YOTP). He was paroled in August.
Excessive Exercise
Gosselin’s initial boot camp intake at the state penitentiary purportedly included a fitness examination by two inmate “peer specialists” instead of trained staff at the behest of YOTP Director Mary Mayer, the lawsuit says.
“Under Defendant Mayer’s active supervision, Mr. Gosselin was forced to perform high-intensity exercises for more than three hours — including stair sprints, push-ups, burpees, squats, lunges, sit-ups, and other exercises — without adequate rest, hydration, or medical monitoring,” the lawsuit says.
Gosselin’s claim says he collapsed at least four times during his evaluation in various areas of the prison that were visible to corrections staff.
“Throughout the fitness evaluation, the peer specialists yelled at Mr. Gosselin that if he failed to complete the required exercises, he would be removed from Boot Camp and lose eligibility for any sentence reduction,” the lawsuit states, adding that by the end of the test, Gosselin could barely walk.
Later that day, Gosselin was forced to exercise again with other boot camp participants as part of a collective punishment because of infractions by other inmates.
‘Cola-Colored’ Urine
The following morning, Gosselin allegedly awoke with severe muscle pain, swollen joints, and a loss of mobility, which caused him to collapse when he got out of bed and hit his head against the wall.
The lawsuit also says an inmate informed Mayer that Gosselin was in distress and possibly urinating blood.
Mayer ordered Gosselin to provide a urine sample and observed that it was “cola-colored,” states the document.
Cola-colored urine is a well-known clinical indicator of rhabdomyolysis, a potentially life-threatening condition after intense exercise, trauma, or muscle injury that requires immediate medical attention due to the danger of kidney failure, according to the lawsuit.
The suit states Mayer was aware of Gosselin’s dire medical condition, yet still ordered him to continue participating in physical fitness exercises, and did not permit him to be seen by the prison’s medical staff.
Organs Were Failing
Gosselin was prescribed antibiotics for a urinary tract infection, but his urine sample was never sent by prison medical staff to a lab for further testing, the lawsuit claims.
Meanwhile, he was still forced to exercise twice a day.
“Mr. Gosselin repeatedly asked for further medical treatment, or to have an opportunity to rest from exercise so he could recover, and he was told no,” the lawsuit states.
On Jan. 3, 2024, Gosselin underwent another urine test, which revealed that his kidneys and liver were failing.
Gosselin was immediately sent to the Banner Wyoming Medical Center intensive care unit in Casper and put on dialysis for 20 days. He was then transferred to the medical unit at the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution for further recovery.
His lawsuit says that because of the abuse, Gosselin’s kidneys are permanently damaged, and he has high blood pressure, ulcers, and other injuries.
“The unlawfulness of forcing an inmate to exercise after repeated collapse and obvious signs of severe distress was so egregious that no reasonable official could believe it lawful,” the lawsuit says.
Scott Schwebke can be reached at scott@cowboystatedaily.com.
