Stillwater inmate given 10-year sentence for stabbing corrections officer

A Stillwater prison inmate has received a 10-year term for stabbing a corrections officer nearly 3½ years ago.

Adrian D. Bell, 35, was sentenced Monday in Washington County District Court after being convicted of first-, second- and fourth-degree assault for stabbing a corrections sergeant with a 5½-inch metal shank during an altercation in June 2020.

At the time, Bell was in prison for shooting and critically wounding a longtime friend in 2012 who was sleeping in an East Bethel home.

"Inmate assaults on correctional officers are grave offenses that undermine the safety of our prison system and will not be taken lightly," Washington County Attorney Kevin Magnuson said in a statement Monday.

According to the criminal complaint stemming from the attack in Stillwater prison:

Bell and another inmate confronted prison staff over loss of privileges. During the argument, the other inmate lunged at a corrections sergeant and punched him in the head.

Additional corrections staff rushed in and attempted to restrain the inmate. As the struggle continued, Bell removed a shank from his pocket, ran to the group and stabbed the corrections sergeant in the lower torso.

The shank, made from thin metal with a sharp tip and a fabric handle, fell from Bell's hand. This allowed correctional staff to detain both inmates.

The sergeant and two additional corrections staff injured in the altercation were treated for their injuries at Lakeview Hospital.