FAIRBANKS – Five prison inmates have been convicted of rioting at the Fairbanks Correctional Center.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports a Fairbanks jury on Monday afternoon convicted the men on felony counts of riot and criminal mischief.
The jury deliberated for less than one day.
The five include Jerald Burton Jr., Patrick Burton-Hill, Tevyn Davis, Robert Gentleman III and Marcus Howard.
Eight other inmates face the same charges. They're being tried in groups because Fairbanks doesn't have a courtroom large enough to try 13 defendants.
Prosecutors say inmates in August broke windows, poured soap on the floor and refused to leave a common area and return to cells. Law enforcement officers deployed chemical irritants and the inmates surrendered.
Alaska law defines rioting as "tumultuous and violent conduct" by five or more people.