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Appeals court upholds sentence of Washington Co. jailer convicted of assault

(via Flickr/neil conway)

The former head of the jail in rural Washington County, Mo. will have to serve the entirety of his 10-year prison sentence.

A federal appeals court this morning ruled that Judge Audrey Flessig did not err in boosting Vernon Wilson's sentence for transferring inmates into cells so they could be assaulted, and also because his actions caused severe bodily harm to one of the inmates.

Wilson was convicted in March 2011 of beating two inmates at the jail in Potosi, Mo. and arranging the beating of another two. One of those inmates, in the jail on a bad check charge,  was injured so severely he had to be hospitalized. He was sentenced in July to 10 years in prison and another three on supervised release.

According to federal prison records, Wilson is serving his term at a low-security institution in Michigan.

Follow Rachel Lippmann on Twitter: @rlippmann

Rachel is the justice correspondent at St. Louis Public Radio.