BENTON, Ill. (AP) — A Maryland man serving a 60-year federal prison sentence has pleaded not guilty to charges he assaulted a correctional officer in Illinois.

Thirty-eight-year-old Erick Roman is serving time on a gang-related racketeering conviction out of Maryland. He was arraigned Monday in federal court in Benton on a felony count of assault on a correctional officer.

Roman was indicted on Oct. 7 in connection with the alleged August attack on the employee at the federal lockup in Marion, Illinois.

Federal prosecutors say Roman was sentenced in February 2011. He was accused of being the leader of a Latin Kings branch in Maryland. Roman allegedly orchestrated several violent crimes, including murder, fire bombings and robberies.

A telephone call Monday to Roman’s court-appointed public defender in the Illinois case wasn’t immediately returned.

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