Biography
Otis McGaughy, who signed as Big O and identified himself as prisoner 59097, was an Attica uprising survivor and one of the indicted Attica Brothers. In a first-person letter he described continued imprisonment and solitary confinement fifteen months after the September 13, 1971 retaking, alleging repeated gassing and beatings and appealing for support for the prisoners' political and human-rights struggle. His original offense, initial admission, actual discharge, and full custody total remain unverified. The fifteen months describe ongoing confinement, not a completed sentence.
The March 1973 Attica News roster prints Otis McGaughy (Big O) among the uprising prisoner defendants, linked to indictment 18, 34: kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and coercion; assault. The table lists maximum statutory exposure, not sentences actually imposed or time served; no custody dates or duration are inferred. A January 28, 1973 statement on physical page 5 dates a guard assault at Auburn to January 26 after he hesitated over a second strip search following an attorney visit. This is alleged retaliatory abuse within existing imprisonment, not a new physical admission. Source: https://freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC510_scans/Attica/510.Prisons.AtticaNewsVol1No1.pdf#page=6
Otis McGaughy, who signed as Big O and identified himself as prisoner 59097, was an Attica uprising survivor and one of the indicted Attica Brothers. In a first-person letter he described continued imprisonment and solitary confinement fifteen months after the September 13, 1971 retaking, alleging repeated gassing and beatings and appealing for support for the prisoners' political and human-rights struggle. His original offense, initial admission, actual discharge, and full custody total remain unverified. The fifteen months describe ongoing confinement, not a completed sentence.
