Six inmates made their initial appearances in Webster County Magistrate Court Tuesday morning.

Among them are three inmates facing willful injury and criminal gang participation charges for an assault on an inmate that happened on June 8.

Those inmates have been identified as Cory M. Copley, 20; Jacob D. Phillips, 31; and Michael J. Kilpatrick, 32.

The criminal complaints filed against the three men allege that they assaulted another inmate in the prison yard. The assault went on for an undisclosed amount of time before correctional officers intervened and stopped the inmates.

Jason Gronstal

Complaints also identified the three as members of the Frys, a white supremacist gang, and said the assault was gang-related.

Two additional inmates were also charged with assaulting two correctional officers on March 21.

Jason D. Gronstal, 34, and Austin E. Lowell, 24, are each charged with assault on persons in certain occupations.

The Iowa Department of Corrections had previously reported that the incident began around 5 p.m. on March 21 when one of the two inmates began attacking an officer.

Another officer tried to intervene and all three were pulled to the ground.

Michael Kilpatrick

While this was happening, the DOC said a second inmate who was in the area began kicking the officers who were struggling with the initial inmate.

Additional correctional officers were called to the area and quickly got the inmates under control.

It’s unclear which of the two charged inmates allegedly began the assault and which joined in later.

Both correctional officers were sent to UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center, where they were treated for scratches and bruises and released that same night.

The DOC said both officers returned to the prison for a short time “before being released from duties for the remainder of their shifts.”

Austin Lowell

The sixth inmate is Daniel R. Penticoff, 21, who has been charged with assault on persons in certain occupations for an alleged assault on a correctional officer from back on Jan. 10.

He’s also charged with assault causing bodily injury for allegedly assaulting another inmate during the same incident.

No further information was available on that case.

All six men made their initial appearances in Webster County Magistrate Court Tuesday morning.

Magistrate Steve Kersten released all the men on their own recognizance, as they are all still inmates serving prison sentences.

Jacob Phillips

He also appointed attorneys for all men; Laura Barnaby, of Fort Dodge, was appointed to represent Penticoff and Phillips; Matthew Mauk, of Ames, was appointed for Gronstal and Copley; A. Joseph Wilson, of Des Moines, was appointed to represent Lowell and Kilpatrick.

All six men had their cases transferred to Webster County District Court.

Daniel Ray Penticoff