Judge: Private Prison Not Negligent in Montana Medical Marijuana Provider’s Death

The Associated PressLast updated July 28, 2020

From left, Kristin Flor and her children, Kristifer and Patricia Williams, protest Richard Flor's death Thursday Sept. 6, 2012, outside the federal courthouse in Helena, Mont., where he was sentenced on drug charges. Richard Flor was a medical marijuana provider who received a five-year sentence in a federal crackdown on large pot operations, but he died late last month while being transferred to a new jail. (AP Photo/Matt Volz)

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A magistrate judge has concluded that a private prison in Shelby is not to blame for the death of a medical marijuana provider who was incarcerated there.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn Ostby on Wednesday recommended the dismissal of a negligence lawsuit filed by the wife of Richard Flor against Corrections Corporation of America.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters must approve the recommendation.

The 68-year-old Flor died in custody in 2012 of colon cancer. He had previously pleaded guilty to running a medical cannabis operation in his Miles City home.

Sherry Flor says her husband was treated like “an abandoned dog” instead of being properly cared for at the prison.

Ostby agreed with attorneys for the prison who said Sherry Flor was unable to prove that her husband did not receive adequate medical care.

Lead Photo: AP/Matt Volz