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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA 

CASE NO:

CHRISTOPHER BENSON,

Plaintiff, 

v. 

PRISONER TRANSPORTATION SERVICES,

INC. f/k/a PRISONER TRANSPORTATION

SERVICES, LLC; PTS OF AMERICA, LLC;

BREVARD EXTRADITIONS, LLC; U.S.

CORRECTIONS, LLC, and JOHN DOE #1 

AND JOHN DOE #2,

Defendants. 

_________________________________________ /

COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES

(Jury Trial Demanded)

David A. Frankel, Esquire

Law Offices of David A. Frankel, P.A.

4601 Sheridan Street, Suite 213

Hollywood, FL 33021

(954) 683-0300

Fla. Bar Number 741779

david@BlueLotusLaw.com

service@BlueLotusLaw.com

Attorney for Christopher Benson

 

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Plaintiff, CHRISTOPHER BENSON (“Benson” or “Plaintiff”) sues the Defendants,

PRISONER TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, INC, f/k/a PRISONER TRANSPORTATION 

SERVICES, LLC, BREVARD EXTRADITIONS, LLC, U.S. CORRECTIONS, LLC, PTS OF 

AMERICA, LLC, JOHN DOE #1, and JOHN DOE #2, jointly and severally, and states the 

following:

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

1. This action is brought by Plaintiff against a private prisoner transport company, 

PRISONER TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, INC f/k/a PRISONER TRANSPORTATION 

SERVICES, LLC, and its three subsidiary companies (the three subsidiaries are collectively 

referred to here, along with the parent company, as “PTS” or “PTS Defendants” or “corporate 

Defendants”) and two individuals who were agents of PTS, pursuant to the state tort laws of the 

State of Wisconsin and 42 U.S.C. §§1983, 1988, and the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to 

the United States Constitution. Jurisdiction is founded on 28 U.S.C. §§1331, 1343, 42 U.S.C. 

§1988, the constitutional provisions mentioned above, and under the state tort laws of Wisconsin. 

Supplemental jurisdiction and joinder of parties for state law claims are proper pursuant to 28 

U.S.C. §1367(a) because they form part of the same case or controversy. 

2. Venue is proper in this Court because the violations of civil rights alleged are 

transitory in nature, and the Defendants do not all reside in one state. PRISONER 

TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, INC, f/k/a PRISONER TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, 

LLC and its three subsidiary companies are subject to personal jurisdiction in the Southern District 

of Florida because they act as one company regularly doing business in the Southern District of 

Florida.

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INTRODUCTION 

3. Over the course of five days, between July 20 and July 25, 2018, the Plaintiff was 

subjected to dangerous and inhumane conditions of confinement while transported in the 

Defendants’ custody from the New Hampshire State Prison (“NHSP”) to the Wood County, 

Wisconsin Jail. During that time, the Plaintiff was crammed into a cage, shackled at the ankles, 

hands, and waist. Denied adequate use of a toilet, the Plaintiff held his bodily functions for the 

entire time, resulting in serious medical complications. Other prisoners in the van could not hold 

their bowels and the Plaintiff was forced to stay confined in human filth. Deprived of sleep, ability 

to move, and adequate light, the Plaintiff became disoriented, anxious, and emotionally 

traumatized. The van itself leaked transmission fluid, causing noxious fumes to permeate the 

prisoners’ compartment, causing the Plaintiff and other prisoners headaches and difficulty in 

breathing. When prisoners complained, the agents took them on rough rides as retaliation to 

frighten them into silence.

4. The conditions suffered by the Plaintiff and other prisoners were a direct result of 

PTS policies that tolerate inhumane conditions of confinement. PTS prioritizes its profits over the 

wellbeing and safety of the prisoners in its custody, as well as its agents, resulting in a widespread 

and continuous pattern of death and injury.

PARTIES TO THE LAWSUIT

5. The Plaintiff, CHRISTOPHER BENSON, is a state sentenced prisoner residing at 

the Jackson Correctional Institution in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, and is otherwise sui juris.

6. Corporate Defendant, PRISONER TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, INC. f/k/a 

PRISONER TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, LLC, is a private for-profit corporation doing 

business across the United States contracting with state and local governments, correctional 

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facilities, and law enforcement agencies to transport arrestees and incarcerated prisoners across 

jurisdictional lines.

7. To transport prisoners and detainees, PRISONER TRANSPORTATION 

SERVICES, INC, f/k/a PRISONER TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, LLC is granted the power 

of arrest by the governmental agencies that contract for its services. As such, PRISONER 

TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, INC, f/k/a PRISONER TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, 

LLC is the equivalent of a government body acting under the color of law and subject to liability 

under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, as well as each state in which it operates.

8. BREVARD EXTRADITIONS, LLC, is one of three subsidiaries owned and 

operated by PTS INC as one company. For purposes of incorporation, BREVARD 

EXTRADITIONS, LLC is registered in Florida and routinely does business in Florida.

9. U.S. CORRECTIONS, LLC, is one of three subsidiaries owned and operated by 

PTS, INC as one company. For purposes of incorporation, U.S. CORRECTIONS, LLC is 

registered in North Carolina and routinely does business in Florida.

10. PTS OF AMERICA, LLC is one of three subsidiaries owned and operated by 

PTS INC as one company. For purposes of incorporation, PTS OF AMERICA, LLC is registered 

in Tennessee and routinely does business in Florida.

11. BREVARD EXTRADITIONS, LLC, U.S. CORRECTIONS, LLC, and PTS OF 

AMERICA, LLC are subsidiary companies held and managed by PRISONER 

TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, INC, f/k/a PRISONER TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, 

LLC. Although maintaining separate names, the three subsidiaries are operated as one company 

without distinction in management, policies, and operations.

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12. John Does #1 and #2 were transportation agents employed by PTS and were the 

agents who performed Plaintiff’s transportation from Keene County, New Hampshire to Wood 

County, Wisconsin. 

GENERAL ALLEGATIONS

13. The Plaintiff alleges, and intends to prove, that at all times material hereto, PTS

corporate Defendants, acting under the color of law, knowingly and purposely engaged in customs 

and practices that had the force of official policy, which were deliberately indifferent to the safety 

and wellbeing of the prisoners in their custody over whom they have complete control.

14. The Plaintiff alleges, and intends to prove, that at all times material hereto, PTS 

exploited a lack of governmental regulation and/or lack of meaningful governmental oversight to 

infringe upon the constitutional rights guaranteed to the prisoners in their custody and to violate 

tort laws, for the sake of profit. Further, PTS does not perform transportation of prisoners in any 

manner similar to, or acceptable by, the official government agencies upon whose behalf they 

operate. Instead, PTS knowingly operates in a cruel and horrific manner, forcing prisoners to 

endure inhumane conditions of confinement.

15. PTS’s normal business operations depend upon its unfettered ability to exploit 

the inherent vulnerabilities of the prisoners in their custody who are held isolated from the world 

in cages, without the ability to communicate with family or friends for days or weeks at a time, 

and unable to complain or defend themselves without retaliation. 

16. The Defendants have each, as more fully set forth below, engaged in conduct that 

violates the Eighth Amendment and state tort laws purposely and deliberately refusing to provide 

for the Plaintiff’s basic human need for sleep; the use of a bathroom: hygiene; fresh air; comfort 

and wellbeing; sanitation; food; water; and medical treatment and prescribed medications.

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 Policies, Customs and Practices of Inhumane Treatment

17. The PTS corporate Defendants are paid on a “per prisoner/per transport” basis

and as a matter of routine, seek to maximize the number of prisoners transported during each trip 

to make each trip as profitable as possible. 

18. This practice extends individual routes for unreasonable amounts of time, causing 

unsanitary and cramped conditions inside the vans that place the prisoners at increased risk of 

injury and emotional distress.

19. The transportation vans used by PTS Defendants are outfitted with interior cages 

that resemble those used to control animals and were never designed or intended for long-distance 

human travel.

20. The vans have no windows or blacked-out windows and prisoners are left in 

complete darkness for days at a time.

21. The vans often do not have proper ventilation, air conditioning, or heat, leaving 

prisoners without fresh air and in extreme heat or cold.

22. At all times material hereto, the vans used by PTS for transportation did not have 

seatbelts and/or PTS allowed prisoners to remain unseat-belted in the cages during travel. This 

common practice leaves prisoners vulnerable to physical and emotional injury when agents subject 

the prisoners to “rough rides.”

23. The unnecessarily long, circuitous, zigzagging and/or indirect routes force 

prisoners to remain in the transport vehicles for days at a time, shackled at the feet, waist, and 

hands, without adequate ventilation or room to move and only the floor to sleep on.

24. The transport agents assigned to drive the vans and guard the prisoners travel up 

to weeks at a time creating conditions that make it impossible for them to perform their duties

safely or humanely.

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25. As a matter of policy, the corporate Defendants feed the prisoners the cheapest 

food possible (without regard to any special dietary restrictions or the medical needs of individual 

prisoners), and routinely withhold food and water to reduce the prisoners’ need for the toilet in an 

effort to reduce the time of each trip.

26. To cut expenses and increase profits, the corporate Defendants maintain a policy 

that limits the opportunity of the prisoners to sleep outside the transport vans, scheduling “rest 

overnight (RON)” stops every 48 to 72 hours, or more.

27. PTS’s travel policy with irregular intermediate stops denies prisoners, including 

the Plaintiff, the ability to stretch and move freely for unreasonably extended periods of time.

28. To avoid the costs of paying intermediate jail facilities to allow prisoners to use 

restrooms, PTS tolerates prisoners urinating and defecating in the vans – in bottles, on themselves, 

and on the floors. Prisoners, including the Plaintiff, were forced to remain in these unsanitary 

conditions for days at a time.

29. Prisoners, like Plaintiff, do not leave the van when fed. They remain shackled at 

the feet, with their wrists shackled to a waist chain, hunched over as much as possible to eat their 

meager meal among the filth of their own excrement.

30. To avoid expenditures for medical treatment, the corporate Defendants ignore 

bona fide medical necessities that arise during transportation. Refusing medical treatment allows 

the corporate Defendants to avoid time delays that affect their ability to schedule as many trips as 

possible in the shortest amount of time, and to avoid costs of treatment. As a matter of policy, the 

corporate Defendants refuse to allow their agents to provide medical attention unless the condition 

is a matter of “life or death.” A former manager is quoted as saying, “Unless a medical condition 

is ‘life or death,’ [they] can’t open the cage on the vehicle.” However, the corporate Defendants 

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have no established guidelines and fail to provide sufficient training to guide their agents to 

evaluate the severity of a medical condition or the need for treatment.

31. At all times material hereto, PTS knew, or should have known, that its agents 

used rough rides (driving recklessly and erratically – tossing the prisoners about the cages) as a 

method of control or retaliation against prisoners, intending to frighten them when they 

complained about the conditions of their confinement.

32. At all times material hereto, PTS knew, or should have known, that its agents 

withheld food and water from prisoners as a method of punishment, or to limit the need to use a 

toilet.

33. The combination of all these practices and policies allows the corporate Defendants 

to spend the least amount of money, using the least number of employees and transport vans, in 

the least amount of time, to maximize profits.

 Inadequate Policies for Hiring, Training, Supervision and Discipline

34. PTS makes no meaningful or genuine effort to supervise, monitor, or evaluate its 

agents’ treatment of prisoners, and routinely overlooks their agents’ failure to comply with the 

written policies and procedures, including but not limited to, pre-trip procedures to ensure proper 

medical care or current medical conditions, documentation of incidents which occur during 

transportation that effect prisoners’ safety and health; provision of medications; and provision of 

adequate sleep, rest, hygiene, toilet facilities and other basic human needs.

35. PTS makes no genuine effort to enforce whatever policies or practices that do exist 

intended to protect prisoners from cruel and inhumane treatment during transportation. Any such 

policies or claimed practices are illusory and mere window dressing.

36. PTS fails to conduct meaningful investigations of known incidents of prisoner death 

and injury caused by the mistreatment or dangerous conduct of its agents.

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37. PTS purposely maintains policies, customs, or practices that it knew created 

unbearable working conditions that would result in transportation agents quitting after brief 

periods of time, unable to perform the job as PTS mandated, and unwilling to sacrifice their own 

safety.

38. To save money, the corporate Defendants maintain a hiring policy that accepts 

extradition agents who do not possess the temperament or qualifications to safely transport the 

prisoners. To control prisoners, the employees abuse the prisoners physically and verbally, 

intentionally over-tightening restraints; driving recklessly; withholding food and water; using 

racial epithets and other abusive language.

39. The corporate Defendants fail to train their agents to properly provide medical care, 

safe transportation and prisoner rights, and/or have no meaningful or adequate methods of 

evaluating the training they do provide to ensure proficiency. Training is limited mostly to review 

of policy paperwork or too brief tutorials – without testing or proficiency evaluation.

40. PTS has no meaningful program of in-service training and no program of periodic 

job performance evaluations. At all times material hereto, what meager training efforts that were 

implemented were haphazard at best and allowed transfer agents to feel comfortable in their ability 

to mistreat the prisoners, violating rights and laws without fear of repercussion.

41. The corporate Defendants make little effort and routinely overlook their agents’ 

failure to comply with the written policies and procedures, including but not limited to, pre-trip 

procedures and prisoner medical conditions; documentation of incidents which occur during 

transportation that effect prisoners’ safety and health; provision of medications; and provision of 

adequate sleep, rest, toilet facilities and other basic human needs.

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42. The combination of all these practices and policies, acts and omissions, allows PTS 

to spend the least amount of money to transport the greatest number of prisonersin the least amount 

of time to maximize profits.

43. This lack of supervision and oversight has resulted in a persistent and widespread 

pattern of abuse because the corporate Defendants’ employees feel comfortable that they violate 

prisoners’ rights without fear of discipline.

44. The corporate Defendants’ failure to properly train, supervise, and discipline its 

employees have resulted in practices and customs that can fairly be said to constitute official policy 

that denies federally protected constitutional rights and causes violations of tort laws.

45. The corporate Defendants’ policies are the direct cause of grossly inhumane 

conditions and treatment during transportation, resulting in an alarming number of injuries, 

assaults, and deaths.

 Violations of Rights

46. The interior of the vans used by the corporate Defendants are constructed with cages 

that resemble those used to control animals and make no accommodation for comfort or safety. 

The vans often have no rear windows and prisoners are left in complete darkness for days at a 

time.

47. Prisoners are not provided adequate fresh air or ventilation, often sitting 

claustrophobically in extreme heat without air conditioning.

48. Prisoners are not provided proper rest during transportation – denied the opportunity 

to sleep or even move for unreasonable periods of time or use a toilet.

49. As a result, the transport agents instruct prisoners to urinate in empty cups and

bottles while they remain shackled and handcuffed. These receptacles are not regularly emptied 

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or removed from the cages, resulting in prisoners micturating where they sit, requiring that they 

spend long periods of time soaked in urine.

50. Because regular toilet stops are not taken, prisoners often defecate where they are 

sitting, and because the van cages are not regularly cleaned along the transport route, they are 

routinely forced to sit in human waste — their own or that of other people in their cage — for the 

entire time that they are in transport.

51. Prisoners are denied the opportunity for adequate hygiene, such as washing, 

showering, brushing their teeth, or changing their clothes.

52. Prisoners are often denied adequate nutrition (quality or specialized diets), hydration 

(fresh water), medical care when needed, and proscribed medications.

53. Transport agents use intimidation and violence against the prisoners as methods of 

control and retaliation if they object to the mistreatment, such as verbal threats and abuse; 

degrading language; use of restraints as weapons to inflict pain; denial of food, water and/or use 

of a toilet; and “rough rides” where the van is purposely driven recklessly to frighten or injure the 

prisoners.

54. The Plaintiff alleges, and intends to prove, that at all times material hereto, the 

corporate Defendants knew, or reasonably should have known, of the widespread nature of these 

right and laws violations and refused to take action to correct them and, in fact, chose to permit 

them to continue because these policies were better for their business’s bottom line.

55. During Plaintiff’s trip, the antifreeze used in the van began to leak, expelling high 

levels of freon vapors to permeate the van and which the Doe Defendants refused to repair.

56. As a direct a proximate result of Plaintiff’s exposure to these poisonous fumes, he 

suffered respiratory discomfort, cough, and lung irritation.

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 Representations of Efficiency and the Myth of Equivalency

57. PTS corporate Defendants were in the business and did provide extradition and 

transportation services for state and local governments, including sheriff’s offices, police

departments, state departments of correction, and other government agencies. To conduct these 

operations, the corporate Defendants assumed the color and duties of governmental authority.

58. PTS advertises that its services cost only a fraction of what it would cost official 

government agencies to transport prisoners. Yet, to fulfill that representation, the corporate 

Defendants do not transport prisoners in the same manner as official government agencies. It is 

a myth that PTS performs its transport services and treats prisoners in a manner similar to the 

official government agencies upon whose behalf they operate.

59. PTS advertises to prospective customers that its practices and policies emphasize 

the safety of prisoners as part of its operations. This is false.

60. The way PTS transports prisoners is dictated by policies that prioritize cost-saving 

measures over its obligation to transport prisoners safely, and to operate over-the-road transport 

vehicles safely. PTS policies, practices, and customs have predictably resulted in grossly unsafe, 

unsanitary, and inhumane conditions of confinement; a widespread pattern of injuries; medical 

emergencies and deaths; as well as very low agent retention rates; low job satisfaction; and hiring 

of unqualified agents.

 20-Case Sample of Injuries and Deaths

61. BREVARD EXTRADITION SERVICES, LLC, U.S. CORRECTIONS LLC, 

along with a third sister subsidiary, Prison Transportation Services of America, LLC, operate under 

the umbrella of Prison Transportation Services LLC (PTS). The PTS subsidiaries operate without 

any detectable distinction from one another and lack any material individuality. The employees 

of each subsidiary are trained the same, work together, and supervise one another. The operations 

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of the subsidiaries are no different, and there does not appear to be any legitimate justification for 

the various incorporations other than to avoid public scrutiny. 

Tommy Lee Brenton

 62. In September 2009, Tommy Lee Benton was transported to Broward County Jail 

from Hernando (Fla.) County Jail in an 8-person van with 11 other prisoners. Shackled and chained 

he began to complain when he experienced trouble breathing. When he continued to complain 

after being told to stop, the van was pulled over and the agents removed him – dragging him to the 

ground – and kicking him as he lay on the hot pavement. Four years later, the case was settled for 

$60,012.00. 

Stephanie Luna

 63. In July 2013, Stephanie Luna was transported from Dallas to Houston. With 

temperatures outside the van in the 90’s and Ms. Luna, shackled in a small sectioned off cage 

without a/c vents, became dehydrated and begged for water. The agents ignored her. Suffering 

heat exhaustion her nose began to bleed and she later experienced vaginal bleeding. 

Steven Galack

64. In July 2012, Steven Galack was picked up in Florida for transportation to Butler 

County, Ohio. By the third day of the trip, in Georgia, with 10 other people in the van, he began 

to suffer heat related illness and became delusional. This led to him being removed from the van 

and stomped on by the guards. The supervising guard instructed “only body shots.” Seventy miles 

later in Tennessee, Galack was found dead. The wrongful death lawsuit was settled.

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William Culpepper

 65. Galack’s death was one of five known to have occurred on a van operated by a 

Prison Transportation Services (PTS) subsidiary. William Culpepper complained of stomach pain 

for a day and a half before dying of a perforated ulcer. Guards thought he was faking, so they 

ignored his pleas for medical care. 

William Weintraub

66. In 2014, guards mocked William Weintraub, a physics professor, complained for 

days before he was found in the back of a van dead and covered in urine. He also died from a 

perforated ulcer.

Denise Isaacs

67. In 2014, Denise Isaacs, age 54, died in Miami onboard a van after she began acting 

bizarre and started drooling and gasping. The guards refused to take her to the hospital. Her autopsy 

later showed that she died from withdrawal from the anti-anxiety medication, diazepam, which 

guards were supposed to be giving her and were not.

Kevin Eli

68. In March of 2017, Kevin Eli was being transported from Virginia to Florida to face 

a nine-year-old burglary charge. Handcuffed and shackled he began to complain about having 

trouble breathing. When he refused to stop complaining he was put in a segregation cage. For the 

nest 30 minutes Mr. Eli pleaded with the guards to call 911. Thinking he was faking, they refused.

Mr. Eli died. The death investigation also revealed he and other prisoners were also abused and 

denied basic human rights. Women were found to be making tampons out of McDonald’s 

wrappers, in front of the male prisoners, and urinating in plastic bottles with the tops cut off. 

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Prisoners reported being taken on joy rides at high speeds, sometimes crossing the median and 

knocking into road signs, as they were flung around in their cages.

Theresa Wrigley

69. Theresa Wrigley was on Eli’s bus and watched him die. Wigley, who has diabetes, 

was being transported from Wisconsin to Florida to face a charge of improperly using a company 

credit card. She said that during her two-week journey, she was given her medication 

intermittently and fed only fast food and that she vomited repeatedly.

Lauren Sierra

70. In 2014, Lauren Sierra was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a U.S. 

CORRECTIONS extradition agent.

Joe Mondregon

71. In March of 2014, while being driven from New Mexico to Colorado, Joseph

Mondragon claims that the guards burned his eye with a cigarette, repeatedly sprayed him with 

pepper spray, used a derogatory term for Latinos and forced him to sit in his own feces, urine and 

blood.

Tabitha Phelps

72. In June of 2014, Tabitha Phelps was being transported Joliet, Illinois to Winnebago 

County Jail in Wisconsin. During the three-day trip, Phelps was forced to engage in sexual 

activities with the male inmates and with a PTS subsidiary guard as other extradition agents stood 

by watching.

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Roberta Blake

73. On August 26, 2014, Roberta Blake was picked up for transport from Ventura, 

California to Baldwin County, Alabama. Blake was handcuffed and shackled and put in a small 

sectioned off area in the van that had no air conditioning. She was denied her prescription medicine 

and medical care after losing consciousness several times. During the trip, she was not seat-belted 

and was tossed about the van due to erratic driving by the guards. Because the guards would not 

give restroom stops, Blake urinated herself and vomited on herself. The agents permitted the male 

prisoners to reach into the cage area and rip off Blake’s clothing and then the agents took pictures 

of her without clothing. While in route she began menstruating, the guards refused her sanitary 

napkins, forcing her to use a McDonald’s cup and napkins in front of other prisoners and the 

guards.

Jeffrey Groover

74. In August of 2015, Jeffrey E. Groover, was picked up for transport at FCI Butner 

in North Carolina. During the 52-hour road trip to Broward County, Groover was forced to sit in 

a “dog cage” as the van driver called it, which measured just 34 inches wide by 42 inches high. 

There was no air-conditioning and only one small vent. The van rarely stopped for breaks. Groover 

was allowed just one cup of water and some food every eight hours. After 24 hours into the trip, 

Groover suffered delusions and vomited. The driver gave him an extra cup of water. Groover 

suffered heat stroke.

Darren Richardson

75. In 2015, Darren Richardson spent ten days in a van from Florida to Pikes County, 

Pennsylvania. During that ten-day ride, the guards put a shotgun to his head, urinated on him, and 

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tried to extort his property. The guards put him in a cage, with shackles so tight his legs, from the 

knees down, turned purple by the time the trip was over.

Serica Hadnot

76. In June 23, 2016, Serica Hadnot, pregnant, was being transported by from Hamilton 

County, Ohio to Marion County Indiana, a 100-mile trip that took 3-days. The extradition agents 

knew she was pregnant. During the transport, Hadnot was shackled around her abdomen. She 

became overheated numerous times, yet her requests for ventilation were ignored. Male prisoners 

were urinating in plastic bottles and throwing the urine at her and other female prisoners. PTS 

agents refused her water even though she was dehydrated. The agents refused to give her pre-natal 

vitamins which they possessed. When she began to bleed from the vagina, her request to go to the 

doctors were ignored. As a result, Hadnot suffered a miscarriage.

Edward Kovari

77. On September 12, 2016, Edward Kovari was picked up in Winchester, Virginia for 

transport to Texas to face charges that he had stolen a car. The charges would later be dismissed. 

During the trip, Kovari and other inmates, while always shackled, were forced to urinate in bottles, 

take turns sleeping on the van’s floor, and watch as other inmates defecated and vomited in the 

van and then have to sit in it. Like this case, Kovari was denied his medication and asked daily to 

go to the hospital but was denied. When Kovari finally got to the Harris County, Texas jail, his 

systolic blood pressure was very high, and he was forced to stay in the jail infirmary for two days 

until his condition stabilized.

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Joseph Jackson

78. On June 30, 2016, Joseph Jackson was picked up in Bernalillo County New Mexico 

to be transported to Miller County, Arkansas. Jackson was on medicine for high blood pressure. 

The corporate Defendants’ agents refused to fill his prescription. With the high blood pressure, 

Jackson was to be on allow-sodium, fat-free diet. However, the agents forced him to eat off the 

Dollar Menu at McDonalds. Jackson began experiencing visual interference, profuse sweating and 

lethargy. Jackson’s requests for medicine and alternative food were ignored. Finally, Jackson lost 

consciousness in Texas and was hospitalized. 

Rajkumar Dhameja

79. From September 28 through October 7, 2016, Rajkumar Dhameja was transported 

in multiple vans from Los Angeles County Jail in California to Norfolk County Jail in 

Massachusetts. During the trip, Mr. Dhameja was sadistically subjected to a litany of severe 

physical and psychological abuse during the transport. The abuse included forcing him to sit and

lie for extended periods in the festering human waste of himself and others; unreasonable 

tightening of the restraints on his wrists and legs for days for the sole purpose of inflicting pain;

allowing 18 hours or more to elapse between restroom breaks even though the vans had no toilets;

and failing to seatbelt him or any other people being transported while intentionally and violently 

swerving the van, accelerating, and slamming on the brakes to inflict pain and injuries on the 

helpless people inside.

Hai Nguyen

80. In September of 2017, Mr. Nguyen was transferred from the New Jersey State Prison to the 

Sacramento County Jail in California. During the trip, the van became so hot that prisoners began to 

complain by shouting and banging on the cages. In response, the PTS agents drove the van recklessly 

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causing he and other prisoners to be tossed off the benches where they sat. Before entering the van, Mr. 

Nguyen requested to be sea-t-belted in, but the agents ignored him. During the “rough ride,” Mr. Nguyen 

injured his lower back. He requested medical treatment but was denied. Mr. Nguyen’s return trip was the 

same trip where Mr. Buck required emergency medical treatment. During that rough ride, Mr. Nguyen 

suffered injury to his neck which will require surgery.

Luis Hernandez

81. On or about March 27, 2017, Luis Hernandez was taken into custody from a 

detention center in Redwood City, San Mateo County, California based on a 1998 warrant from 

Broward County, Florida. Mr. Hernandez had numerous medical ailments requiring specific 

medications, including lisinopril, amlodipine, and metformin, without which he was in danger of 

stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, or death. The normally 46 hours of travel to South Florida took 

over 230 hours -- nearly ten days. Over the course of the transport, Mr. Hernandez was handcuffed, 

his legs were shackled, and he was confined to a steel bench on one side of the van. He was unable 

to stretch or straighten his legs during the transport because the steel divider was positioned directly 

in front of him. With barely any room for his shackled legs, his knees would repeatedly hit against 

the divider. He was also forced to lean forward in his seat so his head would not strike the top of 

the van. Mr. Hernandez remained in this same position, without being able to move, walk, or stand, 

for as many as 12 continuous hours at a time. His wrists and ankles became severely swollen and 

his legs completely numb. Mr. Hernandez informed the agents that he was in pain; however, they 

ignored his complaints. Due to not receiving his medications, Mr. Hernandez became ill, 

disoriented, and developed diarrhea, forcing him to defecate on himself in the van. The van was 

not stopped to allow him to clean himself. On another occasion, an individual got sick and 

vomited in the back of the van. Again, the van was not stopped to clean the mess and Mr. 

Hernandez was forced to spend days sitting in vomit and his own human waste. Mr. Hernandez 

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was only allowed to shower on two occasions during the ten-day transport. Mr. Hernandez began 

to become increasingly sick. Once Mr. Hernandez arrived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, wrist

surgery and emergency treatment in the hospital were required to stabilize his condition

82. These instances, and many others, establish a policy of deliberate indifference that 

is so bereft of compassion that it disregards sexual abuse, encourages physical abuse leading to 

death, and appears to adopt emotional trauma as a means of control.

83. Pursuant to the corporate Defendants’ policies, customs and practices, described 

herein, as carried out by their employees, Plaintiff NGUYEN was subjected to grossly unsanitary

and unsafe conditions of confinement, suffered physical and emotional injury, was denied medical 

care and basic human needs.

THE TRIP: From New Hampshire to Wisconsin

84. On or about July 20, 2018 the Plaintiff was picked up by the corporate Defendants’ 

extradition agents for transport from Keene County, New Hampshire to Wood County, Wisconsin 

to resolve an outstanding charges. The transport agents who took custody of the Plaintiff were 

Does #1 and #2.

85. Plaintiff was placed in a small cargo van, unequipped with a toilet, in full shackles, 

which included leg irons and handcuffs locked to waist chains. 

86. During most of the entire trip, until July 25, 2018, the van was driven in a manner 

that was in reckless disregard for the safety of the human passengers.

87. After leaving Keene County, for the next eight hours, the Doe Defendants forced the 

Plaintiff and other prisoners to remain locked in the cage without a restroom break. During this 

time, prisoners were forced to urinate in plastic bottles and if necessary, defecate in the van, on 

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themselves, and onto the floors, creating unsanitary conditions from which the Plaintiff could not 

escape.

88. For much of the trip, the antifreeze in the cargo van transporting the Plaintiff and 

others was leaking. During this time, the Plaintiff became overwhelmed by the conditions. The 

level of poisonous fumes permeating the van was extremely high and intolerable.

89. As a result of the Doe Defendants’ initially refusing to repair the leaking Freon, the 

Plaintiff suffered nausea, respiratory discomfort, lightheadedness, and cough. Plaintiff was forced 

to endure these dangerous and deplorable conditions for a period of at least 48 to 72 hours until the 

Doe Defendants finally fixed the Freon leak by adding water to the radiator.

90. At one juncture during the trip, the Plaintiff spent four full days in the van without 

a Rest Over Night, eating fast food, drinking little water, receiving few bathroom breaks, all in 

violation of PTS policy. 

91. In addition to the depravation of the most basic human rights (denying dignity and 

causing fear and mental distress), Plaintiff’s physical and emotional injuries were directly caused 

by the corporate Defendants’ callous disregard and lack of appropriate management; manifesting 

from faulty written policies, lack of established policy, failure to follow written policies, and 

insufficient training and performance programs.

92. The primary purpose of the corporate Defendants’ operations is to serve a public 

function -- to safely transport incarcerated persons long distances to and from jail to jail.

93. Acting under the color of law, with governmental authority, the corporate 

Defendants have public duties stemming from the Eighth Amendment and made applicable by the 

Fourteenth Amendment.

94. The Defendants, in their role as extradition agents and jailers, have complete care, 

custody, and control of the prisoners and, therefore, must operate lawfully; with their primary focus 

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being the constitutional rights and laws intended to protect the safety and well-being of the 

prisoners.

95. Such is the case with the departments of detention division of every law enforcement 

agency upon whose behalf the corporate Defendants serve and, therefore, must be the primary 

objective of the corporate Defendants as well.

96. However, the corporate Defendants routinely and systematically ignore the safety and 

wellbeing of the prisoners they transport with the unifying thread throughout the facts as they 

occurred to the Plaintiff, and scores of others, being the corporate Defendants’ placement of its 

corporate interests above that primary purpose.

97. As a direct and proximate result of the cruel and inhumane treatment inflicted by the 

Defendants, the Plaintiff continues to suffer from post-traumatic stress, including but not limited to

starvation; insomnia; excessive heat exposure and dehydration; anxiety; sleeplessness; respiratory 

illness, depression; and frustration.

FEDERAL CAUSES OF ACTION

Count I

42 U.S.C. §1983 Claim

(PTS Defendants)

98. Plaintiff hereby incorporates paragraphs 1 through 97 above, as if specifically set 

forth herein.

99. At all times material hereto, the PTS Defendants acted under the color of 

governmental authority and law in performing functions traditionally reserved to the state, namely 

the extradition and transport of prisoners and pretrial detainees. Therefore, PTS is a state actor 

and subject to the same laws and rules applicable to any governmental entity, including 42 U.S.C. 

§ 1983.

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100. While PTS is not vicariously liable for its employees’ violations of civil rights, they 

are liable for their policies (or practices and customs that have the force of policy) that allow abuses 

to occur because the policies encourages a culture that, once entrenched, can rarely be corrected 

without fundamental change.

101. At all times material hereto, PTS knew, or reasonably should have known, of 

numerous deaths and significant injuries that occurred as a result of established customs and 

practices that dictated the manner in which they operated and, therefore, had the equivalency of 

corporate policy.

102. At all times material hereto, PTS knew, or reasonably should have known, that their 

adopted policies violated basic human rights constituting cruel and unusual punishment, and that 

injury to the Plaintiff was foreseeable.

103. At all times material hereto, PTS remained deliberately indifferent to the 

foreseeability of injury to the Plaintiff and other prisoners.

104. As a direct and proximate result of its policies, PTS subjected the Plaintiff to 

overcrowded, unsanitary, and unsafe conditions of confinement and exposure to poisonous fumes 

a prolonged time, starvation, insomnia, excessive heat exposure, and dehydration, causing physical 

and emotional injury that continue now and will continue in the future.

105. These policies, express and implied, exist across operations of PTS and all its 

subsidiaries, and are the “moving force” of Plaintiff’s damages.

WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff, CHRISTOPHER BENSON requests this Court to enter 

judgment against Defendant, PTS and/or its subsidiaries, and award the Plaintiff compensatory 

and punitive damages, as well as costs and attorney fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C §1988, and all other 

further relief this Court deems just and proper. Plaintiff demands trial by jury for all issues so 

triable by right.

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Count II 

42 U.S.C. §1983 Claim

(JOHN DOE DEFENDANTS 1 AND 2)

106. Plaintiff hereby incorporates paragraphs 1 through 97 above, as if specifically set 

forth herein.

107. At all times material hereto, each Doe Defendant was a state actor and subject to 

same laws and rules applicable to any official government actor, including the Eight Amendment 

and 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

108. As stated with particularity above, Doe #1 and #2, as the Plaintiff’s jailers, each 

inflicted cruel and unusual punishment upon the Plaintiff by denying him basic human rights, 

subjecting him to injury and needless abuse.

109. Defendants Doe #1 and #2 deprived Plaintiff of basic human needs causing injury. 

which they themselves caused over the course of two transportations.

110. As a direct and proximate result of these constitutional deprivations, the Plaintiff 

was subjected to overcrowded, unsanitary, and unsafe conditions of confinement and was denied

food and water for a prolonged time; exposed to poisonous fumes causing him physical injury; as 

well as starvation; insomnia; excessive heat exposure; and dehydration, resulting in permanent 

physical and emotional injury that continues now and will continue in the future.

WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff CHRISTOPHER BENSON, seeks judgment of this 

Honorable Court against Defendants, DOE #1 and DOE #2, awarding the Plaintiff compensatory 

and punitive damages, as well as costs and attorney’s fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C §1988, and all 

other further relief this Court deems just and proper. Plaintiff demands trial by jury for all issues 

so triable by right.

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STATE TORTS

Count III

Breach of Duty - Negligent Training

(PTS Defendants)

111. Plaintiff hereby incorporates paragraphs 1 through 97 above, as if specifically set 

forth herein.

112. A source and cause of the abuse and injury suffered by the Plaintiff and others was 

inadequate training and evaluation.

113. To the extent that these deficiencies in training and evaluation resulted in abuses 

by the Doe Defendants, intended to serve their own individual objectives in controlling the Plaintiff 

and other prisoners, such as “rough rides,” threats of physical violence, and verbal abuse, and 

exposure to poisonous fumes, which did not serve their employers’ interests, PTS breached a duty 

to properly train the Doe Defendants, and properly evaluate the effectiveness of that training.

114. Based on the widespread abuses that were taking place, up to and including the time 

Plaintiff was injured, PTS knew, or reasonable should have known, that its training and evaluation 

programs were deficient but failed to correct them.

115. These failures constituted a breach of duty by PTS, undertaken as a common carrier 

of incarcerated prisoners, to properly train and evaluate its transportation agents.

116. As such, the PTS corporate Defendants’ breach of that duty was a direct and 

proximate cause of the physical and emotional injuries and pain and suffering that befell upon the 

Plaintiff at the hands of the Doe Defendants.

117. As a direct and proximate result of these constitutional deprivations, the Plaintiff 

was subjected to overcrowded, unsanitary, and unsafe conditions of confinement and was denied

food and water for a prolonged time; exposed to poisonous fumes causing him physical injury; as 

well as starvation; insomnia; excessive heat exposure; and dehydration; resulting in permanent 

physical and emotional injury that continues now and will continue in the future.

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WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff, CHRISTOPHER BENSON, seeks judgement of this 

Honorable Court against the PTS Defendants, awarding him compensatory and punitive damages, 

and such other relief as the Court deems just and proper. The Plaintiff seeks trial by jury for all 

causes of action so triable. 

Count IV

Breach of Duty - Negligent Supervision

(PTS Defendants)

118. Plaintiff hereby incorporates paragraphs 1 through 97 above, as if specifically set 

forth herein.

119. A source and cause of the abuse and injury suffered by the Plaintiff and others was 

inadequate supervision.

120. To the extent that these deficiencies in supervision resulted in abuses by the Doe 

Defendants intended to serve their own individual objectives in controlling the Plaintiff and other 

prisoners, such as “rough rides,” threats of physical violence, and verbal abuse, and exposure to 

poisonous fumes, which did not serve their employers’ interests, the corporate Defendants 

breached a duty to properly supervise Does #1 - #2, to prevent physical and emotional injury.

121. Based on the wide-spread abuses that were taking place, up to and including the 

time Plaintiff was injured, the corporate Defendants knew, or reasonable should have known, that 

their supervision policies were deficient but failed to correct them.

122. These failures constituted a breach of duty by the PTS Defendants, undertaken as a 

common carrier of incarcerated prisoners, to properly supervise its transportation agents.

123. As such, the PTS Defendants’ breach of that duty was a direct and proximate cause 

of the physical and emotional injuries and pain and suffering that befell upon the Plaintiff at the 

hands of Doe Defendants.

124. As a direct and proximate result of these constitutional deprivations, the Plaintiff 

was subjected to overcrowded, unsanitary, and unsafe conditions of confinement and was denied

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food, and water for a prolonged time, exposed to poisonous fumes causing him physical injury, as 

well as starvation, insomnia, excessive heat exposure, and dehydration, resulting in permanent 

physical and emotional injury that continues now and will continue in the future.

WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff, CHRISTOPHER BENSON, seeks judgement of this 

Honorable Court against the PTS Defendants, awarding him compensatory and punitive damages, 

and such other relief as the Court deems just and proper. The Plaintiff seeks trial by jury for all 

causes of action so triable. 

Count V

Breach of Duty - Negligent Retention

(PTS Defendants)

125. Plaintiff hereby incorporates paragraphs 1 through 97 above, as if specifically set 

forth herein.

126. A source and cause of the abuse and injury suffered by the Plaintiff and others was 

knowing retention of transport agents who were dangerous.

127. To the extent that the corporate Defendants’ willingness to retain agents who pose 

a risk to the prisoners resulted in abuses by Does #1 and #2, which were intended to serve their 

own individual objectives in controlling the Plaintiff and other prisoners, such as “rough rides,” 

threats of physical violence, and verbal abuse, which did not serve their employers’ interests, the 

corporate Defendants breached a duty to properly discipline and terminate Does #1 and #2, to 

prevent physical and emotional injury.

128. Based on the widespread abuses that were taking place, up to and including the time 

Plaintiff was injured, the PTS Defendants knew, or reasonable should have known, that their 

retention policies were deficient but failed to correct them.

129. These failures constituted a breach of duty by the corporate Defendants, undertaken 

as a common carrier of incarcerated prisoners, to properly supervise its transportation agents.

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130. As a direct and proximate result of these constitutional deprivations, the Plaintiff 

was subjected to overcrowded, unsanitary, and unsafe conditions of confinement and was denied

food, and water for a prolonged time, exposed to poisonous fumes causing him physical injury, as 

well as starvation, insomnia, excessive heat exposure, and dehydration, resulting in permanent 

physical and emotional injury that continues now and will continue in the future.

WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff, CHRISTOPHER BENSON, seeks judgement of this 

Honorable Court against the PTS Defendants, awarding him compensatory and punitive damages, 

and such other relief as the Court deems just and proper. The Plaintiff seeks trial by jury for all 

causes of action so triable.

Count VI

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress - State Tort Claim

(PTS Defendants)

131. Plaintiff hereby incorporates paragraphs 1 through 97 above, as if specifically set 

forth herein.

132. To the extent the malign acts of the Doe Defendants were committed in furtherance 

of the PTS corporations’ interests (such as unnecessarily long, indirect routes, deprivation of sleep, 

rest, comfort, unsanitary conditions, refusing to administer medicine, rushing Plaintiff’s hospital 

care, and more, as alleged above) the corporate Defendants are vicariously liable.

133. Plaintiff alleges that these malign acts were extreme and outrageous, violating 

norms of decency in a civilized society – even more so where the agents took advantage of the 

Plaintiff’s vulnerability as a helpless prisoner – and wholly unjustified even in performing the 

services under difficult circumstances.

134. Abuse of power is a significant factor in the calculus of infliction of emotional 

distress.

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135. As a direct and proximate result of these constitutional deprivations, the Plaintiff 

was subjected to overcrowded, unsanitary, and unsafe conditions of confinement and was denied

food, and water for a prolonged time, exposed to poisonous fumes causing him physical injury, as 

well as starvation, insomnia, excessive heat exposure, and dehydration, resulting in permanent 

physical and emotional injury that continues now and will continue in the future.

WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff, CHRISTOPHER BENSON, seeks judgement of this 

Honorable Court against the PTS Defendants, awarding him compensatory and punitive damages, 

and such other relief as the Court deems just and proper. The Plaintiff seeks trial by jury for all 

causes of action so triable. 

DATED this 18th day of May, 2020.

/s/ David A. Frankel

DAVID A. FRANKEL

Law Offices of David A. Frankel, P.A.

4601 Sheridan Street, Suite 213

Hollywood, FL 33021

(954) 683-0300

David@BlueLotusLaw.com

eService@BlueLotuslaw.com

FLA. BAR NO. 741779

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