By Daprile
cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Lorain County’s new sheriff, Jack Hall, has launched an internal investigation into an incident at the jail that left an inmate paralyzed last year.
In May 2023, correctional officer Brian Tellier was accused of smashing the head of inmate Jeffrey Fry into a wall. The incident sparked outrage over conditions in the jail and led to a federal lawsuit from Fry seeking $40 million. That suit is ongoing.
In one of his first acts as sheriff this week, Hall launched an internal investigation into the incident after placing Tellier on paid administrative leave, he told cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. That investigation will be conducted by a corrections inspector general, a new position that focuses specifically on the jail.
The inspector general, Ryan Kolegar, worked as a deputy and a corrections officer for the Medina County sheriff’s office from 2018 to December 2024. He resigned from the department in good standing, state records show.
The records indicate Kolegar received advanced training for “correctional supervisor for full-service facilities” in 2023.
The position, which Kolegar said is the first of its kind for a local law enforcement agency in Ohio, will report directly to the department’s director of legal affairs, which Hall said is in a separate “silo” than the sheriff’s legal team.
Under the county’s former sheriff, Phil Stammitti, the department conducted an investigation into the Tellier incident. Hall said investigators will use those investigative materials but want their investigation to be independent.
“We’re doing this from scratch,” Hall said. “We’re doing this from a fresh perspective.”
The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com reached out to Stammitti.
The FBI is also investigating the incident.
Fry’s lawsuit against the county is one of three that has been filed in the last 14 months that allege corrections officers used excessive force against inmates. One of the suits was from an inmate who was mentally ill. The other suit was from an inmate who alleged a corrections officer choked him unconscious.
One of the cornerstones of Hall’s campaign for sheriff was reforming the jail. While campaigning, he released a jail plan that called for changing the culture at the facility, improving de-escalation training, implementing a body camera program, increasing the number of correctional officers and improving the jail’s general condition.
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