NORFOLK, Va. — The Navy’s inspector general is investigating allegations that practices at the Navy brig in Chesapeake have infringed on service members’ legal rights, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

A group of attorneys representing current and former clients at the brig filed an investigative complaint with the Navy’s inspector general, alleging violations of clients’ Sixth Amendment right to counsel and illegal pretrial punishment through the systemic overuse of maximum custody — the Navy’s term for solitary confinement.

Reached for comment last week, a spokesperson for the Office of the Naval Inspector General said the office does not comment on active investigations. The brig in Chesapeake is a detachment of the Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston.

Robert Canoy, an attorney for former sailor Angelo McDuffie, said he’s alone in his cell 22 to 23 hours every day.

McDuffie has been held in maximum custody for the thirteen months he has been at the Chesapeake brig. He was brought to the brig Sept. 30, 2025 and was charged with multiple crimes on Nov. 3, 2025.

Despite being infraction-free and qualifying for general population (“Medium In”) based on multiple evaluations, there’s nothing McDuffie can do to get out of maximum custody, the brig’s officer in charge, Cmdr. Brian Flanagan, testified at McDuffie’s pre-trial hearing in August.

Flanagan acknowledged McDuffie is considered a “model prisoner.”

McDuffie is charged with the murder of Hector Olmeda Jr., a fellow former sailor and friend of McDuffie’s. Olmeda’s remains were found in March 2024 in a home he and McDuffie were sharing in Portsmouth. McDuffie is also charged with resisting arrest, fraudulent use of an identification document and debit card, obstruction of justice, wrongful use of psilocybin and marijuana and absence from a place of duty.

Flanagan testified in August that McDuffie is being held in maximum custody due to the seriousness of his charges. That’s for the safety of himself, the brig staff and other detainees, Flanagan said.

But McDuffie’s attorney, Canoy, argued that maximum custody is unnecessary in McDuffie’s case and has harmed his ability to participate in his own defense. According to Canoy, McDuffie has been allowed no face-to-face visits with his attorneys since his incarceration at the brig.

For the year and a half leading up to his confinement at the brig, McDuffie was incarcerated at the Western Tidewater Regional Jail and for a time at a psychiatric facility in Northern Virginia while awaiting trial on charges related to a police chase in Hampton. During those eighteen months, he did not display any violent behavior or receive a single infraction, Canoy said.

McDuffie’s attorneys have petitioned to have him moved to general population, a civilian jail or a medical facility while he awaits trial, to no avail.

In September, military judge Cmdr. Jason A. Pfeil sided with the defense, ruling that McDuffie’s prolonged confinement in maximum custody amounts to illegal pretrial punishment in violation of Article 13 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

However, Pfeil did not order McDuffie removed from maximum custody and asked the defense for additional information before granting a remedy. Canoy said it’s still a win.

“Now at least we have a judge saying you’re not reasonably using your authority — essentially you’re abusing the discretion that you’re given.”

Another case cited in the investigative complaint is that of Jermiah Copeland, the former Norfolk sailor who pleaded guilty to murdering Petty Officer Angelina Resendiz.

At a pretrial hearing in December, military judge Capt. Frank Hutchison heard arguments from Copeland’s counsel that he had been subjected to illegal pretrial punishment by being held in maximum custody for the entirety of his confinement.

Flanagan testified at the hearing that Copeland’s continued maximum custody status was for his, the brig staff’s and other inmates’ safety.

In another case, defense counsel for Hospital Corpsman Thian Pate argued he was subjected to illegal pretrial punishment after he was placed in maximum custody for months after being “body-slammed” by a master at arms. The master at arms testified that he had body-slammed Pate in a “preemptive” way. A witness to the encounter said the master at arms, whose name is redacted in court filings, had body-slammed Pate despite Pate showing no aggressive behavior toward the master at arms.

Before the incident, Pate had spent several months in civilian and military jail in general population with no issues. His counsel argued that his continued confinement in maximum custody amounted to an abuse of discretion.

At McDuffie’s August pretrial hearing, his defense counsel also raised concerns about the privacy of attorney-client meetings at the brig. Counsel said brig staff stand guard immediately outside the door, raising concerns that they could overhear privileged conversations. Attorneys have said their clients fear their meetings are not private, potentially affecting their ability to fully participate in their own defense.

In at least one case, another detainee was asked by brig staff about something he had just discussed in a confidential meeting with his counsel, according to an attorney with knowledge of the investigation.

“When you go to the brig and it looks like your conversations are being actively overheard by the guards and the staff there, like they’re listening in on everything as you’re talking through this glass, then naturally the people there don’t feel comfortable talking and don’t feel comfortable getting into what happened in their case or doing really anything substantive,” Canoy said.

Another element Canoy is concerned about is the impact of maximum custody on his client. McDuffie has struggled with serious mental health issues. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the Hampton police chase case.

Canoy said maximum custody affects defendants’ mental health and memory. He said he’s seeing an impact on McDuffie.

“You spend months upon months basically in solitary confinement, you can be the most sane and lucid person ever, and you won’t be at the end of that.”

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