Seven Charged In 2015 Cushing Prison Riot That Killed Four

Seven people were charged this week connection with a 2015 riot at a private prison in Payne County in which four inmates were stabbed to death.

Court records show Phillip Wayne Jordan, 33; Johnathan Richard Whittington, 27; Steven Ray Thompson, 31; James Augustine Placker, 30; Jordon James Scott, 25; Gage Broom, 25; and Korey L. Kruta, 28, were filed Monday in Payne County District Court. 

Each defendant is charged with participating in a riot, a felony punishable by up to life in prison.

The deadly melee occurred on Sept. 12, 2015, at the Cimarron Correctional Facility in Cushing, which is a private prison owned and operated by Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America.

Authorities said at the time that the riot involved a dispute between two rival prison gangs that became violent.

The four inmates who died were identified as Kyle Tiffee, 23; Michael Mayden Jr., 26; Chris Tignor, 29; and 31-year-old Anthony Fulwilder.

12/15/2015 Related Story: Prisoners Killed In Cushing Fight Died Of Stab Wounds

The Associated Press contributed to this report.