OGDEN, Utah — An inmate who says jailers in Weber County fractured his vertebrae and put him in a wheelchair has pleaded no contest to two of the charges that placed him in that jail.
Corey N. Chesney, 38, had maintained his innocence. Friday, through his civil attorney, he said he entered the pleas so he could get out of Weber County.
But he’s not free.
After a court hearing Tuesday, he was transferred to the Utah County jail. He has a pending misdemeanor count of assault by a prisoner in state court in Provo. The jail’s website says he is being held in lieu of $4,000 bail.
Chesney had been in the Weber County jail since April 2024, according to court records. Probation agents – Chesney earlier had pleaded no contest to an assault – say they found methamphetamine as well as a revolver locked inside his storage unit in Ogden.
According to letters Chesney has sent to the judge presiding over his criminal case – and a notice his civil attorney recently sent to Weber County – in July 2024, he complained corrections officers were touching his food, violating kosher meal protocols.
“They wanted me to step on a scale,” Chesney said Saturday in a video interview with FOX 13 from the Weber County jail, “and I wouldn't step on a scale.
“So, ‘I'll go in whatever cell you want me to go to, but I'm not stepping on that scale. I'm not going to give you justification to stick a tube down my throat and force feed me.’
“And they attacked me.”
Weber County Attorney Chris Allred, in an email to FOX 13 last week, said he has had “several conversations” with the sheriff’s office about Chesney.
“The Sheriffs Office strongly disputes the characterization of Mr. Chesney’s treatment” described by Chesney and Hollingsworth, Allred wrote.
A November report from the Utah State Hospital said Chesney had a “wedge compression fracture of T11-T12” vertebrae. That report also noted a history of homelessness, substance abuse and mental health problems.
Chesney was later returned to the Weber County jail.
Tuesday, Chesney entered a state courtroom in Ogden, seated in a wheelchair pushed by a guard.
Chesney pleaded no contest to a count of possession with intent to distribute and a count of weapons possession by a restricted person. As part of the deal, prosecutors lessened both counts to Utah’s lowest grade of felony.
Chesney and prosecutors agreed he would be sentenced to time served. The judge approved the deal.
The notice of claim Chesney filed is necessary before he can file any lawsuit against Weber County. It also gives the two sides an opportunity to resolve issues before going to court.
In that Saturday jail interview, Chesney said he had gone a week without eating because Weber County had stopped providing him kosher meals.
Friday, attorney April Hollingsworth, who is representing Chesney’s civil claims, said Utah County is providing him kosher meals – sealed in packaging with a kosher stamp on the wrapper.
Earlier statement from Weber County Sheriff’s Office regarding inmate Corey Chesney:
The Weber County Sheriff's Office has received a Notice of Intent to Litigate from inmate Corey Chesney and his legal counsel.
The Sheriff's Office maintains that the allegations outlined in the notice are inaccurate and do not reflect the facts of Mr. Chesney’s incarceration. Mr. Chesney has been housed at the Weber County Correctional Facility in accordance with established policies, professional correctional standards, and applicable laws.
All individuals in the custody of the Weber County Correctional Facility, including Mr. Chesney, are provided access to appropriate medical care through a contracted medical provider, religious accommodations, and other services consistent with their custody level and classification.
As this matter involves pending litigation, the Weber County Sheriff's Office will not be making further comment at this time.