Inmates charged in Jan. attack

Three officers at Pelican Bay were assaulted

Two Pelican Bay State Prison inmates face attempted murder charges in connection with a January assault on three correctional officers who were sent to the hospital.

Inmates Omar Cardenas and Moses Osuna were appointed attorneys during their arraignment Thursday at the Del Norte County Superior Courthouse. They will enter their pleas at a subsequent hearing after they have the chance to speak with their attorneys.

Both are charged with attempted murder and several other felony charges.

On Jan. 11, Cardenas and Osuna were being let out of their cell to go to an exercise yard when they allegedly attacked two correctional officers, said Deputy District Attorney Lisa Specchio.

A third officer tried to stop the assaults and was also injured, Specchio said.

Other officers then responded, quelling the attacks with physical force and batons. Two weapons, one metal and the other plastic, were recovered.

The injured officers were taken to Sutter Coast Hospital. They eventually returned to work, said Lt. Christopher Acosta, prison public information officer.

“They’re all working and all doing good,” said Acosta.

Cardenas was charged with two counts of attempted murder for his alleged involvement in the attacks against two correctional officers, who both suffered facial injuries.

Osuna was charged with a single count of attempted murder for his alleged attack on a third correctional officer, who was stabbed multiple times.

The District Attorney’s Office was waiting to charge the two inmates until an investigation into whether the attacks were ordered by other inmates and if prison gang issues were involved, Specchio said. That investigation was inconclusive, she added.

Cardenas faces 10 felony charges including two counts each of attempted murder, mayhem and battery on a correctional officer. Several of the charges have special allegations attached to them including use of a deadly weapon, causing great bodily injury and committing a violent felony after being convicted of a previous violent felony.

Cardenas is already serving 50 years for first-degree murder.

Osuna faces five felony counts including assault by an inmate with a deadly weapon and battery on a correctional officer. Several special allegations were also tacked onto his charges, including seven for committing a violent felony after being convicted of a previous violent felony.

The special allegations relate to his past convictions, which include second-degree  robbery with a firearm and gang enhancements.

Osuna is already serving 60 years for carjacking and making terrorist threats.

With the inmates already serving long sentences, “I will be seeking fines” in addition to other punishment, said Specchio.