3 Michigan inmates accused of plotting to beat, kill others at federal prison in Milan

Three Michigan inmates are accused of killing another inmate in an alleged conspiracy to murder those smaller and weaker than themselves. 

Alex Albert Castro, Jason Dale Kechego and Adam Taylor Wright are charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and assault with intent to commit murder in the death of Christian Maire, a fellow inmate at the federal detention center in Milan.

The charges, pursued and announced by federal prosecutors, allege that Castro, Kechego and Wright "did conspire to prey upon, assault and murder smaller and weaker inmates" at the Milan Detention Center. 

Wright is also charged with fighting off and assaulting the correctional officers who tried to intervene in Maire's beating and death.

On Jan. 2, 2019, all three men allegedly cornered and grabbed Maire as part of a plot to kill him. 

Castro, Kechego and Wright allegedly stabbed Maire with a shank, then beat, punched and kicked him. After they fended off guards attempting to stop the assault, they allegedly threw Maire's body down a flight of stairs. 

According to a grand jury's indictment of the men, they also intended to beat and kill inmates Michael Figura, Craig Evans and Joseph Raphael in different instances throughout December 2018 and early January 2019. They allegedly assaulted the three men, but did not kill them as they did Maire. 

The men could face life sentences if convicted on the new charges. 

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