Pleasant Valley prison probes inmate death

The Associated Press

Fresno County sheriff's detectives are investigating the death of an inmate at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga.

Prison officials say a 27-year-old man from Sacramento County was found dead in his cell in the administrative segregation unit just before 2:45 a.m. They have not provided details of the death, but say it appeared "suspicious."

According to prison officials, the inmate, whose name has not been released, had been at Pleasant Valley since Aug. 12, 2007, and was serving a sentence for resisting an officer. He also had served time in 1994 for assault with a deadly weapon and in 2002 for receiving stolen property.

Pleasant Valley State Prison opened in 1994 and houses nearly 5,200 minimum- to maximum-custody inmates.