N.J. inmate attacked guard who refused to let him get haircut

A South Jersey man was sentenced to three years in prison Friday for assaulting a correctional officer who wouldn't let him get a haircut.

Clive Hinds, 22, of Maple Shade, pleaded guilty in March to a third-degree charge of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. Prosecutors said the attack occurred in November 2012, as Hinds was in county jail awaiting a verdict in the 2010 murder of Muriah Huff.

Huff and her boyfriend, Michael Hawkins, were beaten and shot to death inside a Camden home during what investigators called a gang-related dispute. Hinds was among ten people charged in connection with one or both of the victims' deaths.

Hinds on Nov. 20, 2012 told a corrections officer that he needed a haircut before the verdict was announced. When the officer told him that wasn't possible, Hinds attacked him.

Prosecutors said other inmates took the opportunity to also assault the guard during the melee, which lasted until correctional staffers intervened.

Hinds was ultimately found guilty in Huff's killing, though the murder charge was reduced to manslaughter, as the jury found he had acted under duress. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the offense and has been ordered to serve the most recent three-year jail term consecutively.

Eight of the defendants charged in connection with the killings of Huff and Hawkins pleaded guilty, while two were convicted following jury trials.

Reputed ringleader Kuasheim Powell, 28, was sentenced Friday to 40 years in state prison for shooting Hawkins and sanctioning Huff's murder. His sentencing marked the close of the four-year case, which prosecutors in Camden County called "one of the most complicated the office handled in recent memory."