$600,000 Settlement Approved in Beating by County Inmates

Without comment, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has agreed to pay $600,000 to a traffic offender who was severely beaten by fellow county jail inmates after he refused to smuggle drugs and weapons into the Pitchess Honor Rancho in Castaic.

The supervisors voted Tuesday 4-0 to give final approval to the settlement of a lawsuit filed by Steven Sammartano, who was approached by other inmates in August 1993 to smuggle the material into the jail while serving time for driving without a license.

After Sammartano refused to smuggle the contraband into the jail and reported the plot to sheriff’s deputies, his life was threatened by some inmates. He was transferred to the Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles and placed in protective custody with instructions that he not be returned to Pitchess.

But Sammartano, despite his protests to deputies, was returned to Pitchess the following day by mistake. He was attacked by inmates and suffered severe injuries to his right wrist and a head injury that damaged his hearing. He also claimed emotional injuries that resulted in anxiety and depression and required treatment with medication.

The county chose to settle the case rather than take the risk of going to trial, where county lawyers estimated a jury could award $1.76 million to Sammartano.