Federal Prisoner Sentenced for Assaulting a Bureau of Prison’s Nurse

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - On April 22, 2026, a Washington D.C. man was sentenced in federal court for one count of assault on a Bureau of Prisons' nurse at the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners.

Lawrence C. Boykin, 72, was serving a prior sentence from 1991 for his conviction on multiple counts of sodomy on a minor and indecent acts with a minor when he assaulted a nurse on duty at the Bureau of Prisons in Springfield.

On December 21, 2024, while serving his prison sentence, Boykin began verbally abusing staff and then threw a food tray at the victim. The food tray struck the victim causing a broken nose, laceration, and concussion.

U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool sentenced Boykin to 46 months imprisonment, run consecutively with the remainder of Boykin's 1991 prior sex offense conviction, followed by one year of post-release supervision.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Prisons.