First Responders

This Prison Drug Smuggler Savagely Beat, Pepper-Sprayed Corrections Officer

August 5, 2022Carl Prine
On Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022, Michael Selvidge, 38, was sentenced to 110 months for possession with the intent to distribute controlled substances and 41 months for assaulting a corrections officer. Coffee or Die Magazine composite.

On Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022, Michael Selvidge, 38, was sentenced to 110 months for possession with the intent to distribute controlled substances and 41 months for assaulting a corrections officer. Coffee or Die Magazine composite.

A prison drug smuggler who savagely beat and pepper-sprayed a corrections officer gets to stay behind bars for another nine years.

On Tuesday, Aug. 2, in Abingdon, Virginia, Senior US District Judge James P. Jones sentenced Michael Aaron Selvidge to 110 months in prison for smuggling contraband narcotics into US Penitentiary Lee in 2019, plus 41 months for assaulting the correctional officer six months ago at the Western Virginia Regional Jail in Salem.

The sentences will run concurrently. Selvidge, 38, had faced up to 55 years in a federal penitentiary if he’d received maximum consecutive sentences for all of his recent crimes.

Selvidge inked a pair of plea deals with federal prosecutors in late 2021 and early 2022 that led to authorities tossing one drug distribution charge.

His attorney did not respond to messages seeking comment.


The Western Virginia Regional Jail is located in the Dixie Caverns area of Roanoke County. Western Virginia Regional Jail image.

Since his first conviction as a 12-year-old boy for shoplifting, Selvidge has compiled a long and increasingly violent rap sheet, including a six-year stretch for possession of a firearm by a felon.

He was serving that sentence at US Penitentiary Lee when he got nabbed on Aug. 31, 2019, taking delivery of Buprenorphine strips from a visitor. That triggered Selvidge’s drug charges.

On Jan. 16, 2022, Selvidge was awaiting trial for the narcotics case at Western Virginia Regional Jail. Corrections Officer Curtis Canzone was making his rounds, saw Selvidge, and then ordered him to return to his cell.

But the inmate threatened the guard and then began pummeling him with his fists.

Canzone tried to repel Selvidge with his canister of pepper spray but dropped it on the floor. Selvidge pounced on it and emptied the container on the corrections officer’s face and body.

Then he hurled the spent canister at the guard.

Prison Drug smuggler

The Western Virginia Regional Jail sprawls across 264,000 square feet and can house 1,021 inmates. It was built to house inmates from Virginia’s Franklin, Montgomery, and Roanoke counties, plus the city of Salem. Western Virginia Regional Jail photo.


“Every day I treat every inmate the same, as a human being because it is not my job to judge them for the actions that got them here,” Canzone wrote in a letter to the judge. “But on this day things will be forever different.

“Throughout my career I have always tried to be reasonable with inmates, not too harsh but not too lenient. But on this day things were very different,” he continued. “I resorted to all of my training to resolve whatever issue inmate [Selvidge] had going on. It failed. I gave simple and clear instructions, and it failed. I didn’t resort to threaten this inmate, the way my life was threatened. I even tried to leave the situation, so that it would not resort to violence. Despite all of my efforts to do so, I was met with violence for reasons I still do not know to this day.

“On this day I was forever scarred. However, despite inmate [Selvidge’s] efforts to put me down, I am still, and will continue, to be a correctional officer. I will learn more, get through this ordeal, and I will continue on. I always try to remember, ‘What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.’”

Like his rap sheet, Selvidge’s list of prison infractions leading up assaulting a corrections officer was lengthy and violent.

Between 2016 and 2020, he lost visitation, commissary, and phone privileges — or was thrown into Special Housing Units — for numerous incidents, including possessing and smuggling narcotics; using torn fabric as a prison “fishing line” to move contraband to lower cells; hiding a 5-inch metal bolt from his crutches; fighting; and assault.

Read Next: Florida Deputy Going to Prison for Lying to Investigators


Carl Prine
Carl Prine

Carl Prine is a former senior editor at Coffee or Die Magazine. He has worked at Navy Times, The San Diego Union-Tribune, and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He served in the Marine Corps and the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. His awards include the Joseph Galloway Award for Distinguished Reporting on the military, a first prize from Investigative Reporters & Editors, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

More from Coffee or Die Magazine
Bazooka
How the Bazooka Gained Infamy as a Tank-Buster

Named after a musical instrument, the Bazooka proved to be a highly effective weapon for American troops, including one maverick pilot, throughout multiple wars.

Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall (center) delivers testimony during a House Appropriations Committee hearing in the Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.
Home to Glenn, Armstrong, Wrights Perfect Spot for Space Command HQ, Ohio Lawmakers Say

Ohio lawmakers pitch their state as the new location for Space Command headquarters.

soflete
Soflete: How This Veteran-Led Company is Changing Military Fitness Culture

In 2014, Soflete’s co-founders saw workout overkill hurting their peers as they prepared for selecti...

glock 19
Glock 19: Origin Story of a Legendary Pistol

Get to know the Glock 19 — how it works, who uses it, and why it’s one of the most popular handguns in the US.

afghan soldier asylum
Afghan Soldier Who Helped US Weathers Injuries, Uncertainty in Asylum Bid

Afghan soldier who assisted the U.S. now faces uncertainty in bid for asylum.

The Dirty Dozen
‘The Dirty Dozen’: Meet D-Day’s Real Rogue Commandos

The Dirty Dozen was based on a real team of rule-breaking elite paratroopers who jumped into France ahead of D-Day.

d-day 79th anniversary
Normandy Marks D-Day's 79th Anniversary, Honors World War II Veterans

This year's D-Day tribute to the young soldiers who died in Normandy is not only a chance to honor t...

  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Careers
Contact Us
  • Request a Correction
  • Write for Us
  • General Inquiries
© 2023 Coffee or Die Magazine. All Rights Reserved