On October 8, 2021, TDOC Inmate Rony Sorto (age 35) was at the Morgan County Correctional Complex (MCCX) serving a 40-year sentence for Aggravated Rape and Especially Aggravated Kidnapping.

Inmate Sorto stated that the Officer had taken his food, closed his door so he could not take a shower, and taken his water bottle. He stated, “I had to do what I had to do”. Rony Sorto used a “shank” that he concealed in a towel to attack an MCCX Correctional Officer stabbing the Officer multiple times.

At his sentencing the victim MCCX Officer testified about the effects of the attack, his injuries, treatment, and recovery has had on him personally, as well as his family. The Officer said, “I went to work on October 8th not knowing that day would change my life.” The Corrections Officer went on to say that “I just wish I could be normal again, I am only 21 years old and now I have to live the rest of my life in fear.”

Aggravated assault and possession of a weapon in a penal institution are both class C Felonies that carry between 3-15 years in the TDOC system. Inmate Sorto pled guilty to both charges and was sentenced by Criminal Court Judge Jeff Wicks to ten (10) years in the TDOC which a ten-year sentence is to be added to Sorto’s current forty-year sentence.

District Attorney General Russell Johnson stated that “Inmates who break the laws in prison, especially assaults on those trying to ensure their safety, will be aggressively prosecuted even if they are already serving lengthy prison sentences. With the addition of ten (10) years added to his sentence, the District Attorney’s Office is hopeful Inmate Sorto will not create any more victims and will spend his life in prison. He is currently being housed in Riverbend Maximum Security Prison in Nashville.

Sorto was represented by the 9th Judicial District Public Defender’s Office and the matter was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney General Jonathan Edwards.