Two Oregon prison inmates died in custody in five days, including one who was in hospice care.

Aubrey D. Richardson, 76, died Thursday at the Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla, and Michael E. Krajeski, 60, died in hospice care Saturday at the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton, according to the Oregon Department of Corrections.

The agency hasn't released any information on how either man died.

In 2016, Richardson was sentenced in Linn County to six years and two months in prison for attempted rape and attempted sexual abuse. Krajeski was sentenced in Multnomah County to seven years and six months in prison in 2012 for robbery and burglary, court records show.

Krajeski sued an Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution doctor, the corrections department's then-chief medical officer and others in 2016 saying they weren't protecting his civil rights and delayed necessary medical care.

The lawsuit said Krajeski had been severely beaten by a cellmate in 2014 despite Krajeski asking to be moved beforehand after being threatened and prison staff knowing the other inmate had a history of beating his cellmates.

According to the lawsuit, the attack caused Krajeski to lose some of his vision, memory and cognitive skills. He also had trouble speaking and required metal plates in his skull due to a severe brain injury, the suit said.

Doctors at OHSU Hospital discovered Krajeski had hepatitis C while treating him and that he was likely suffering from cirrhosis because of it. OHSU turned over the records to state corrections department physicians, but they didn't advise Krajeski of his illness for more than a year, didn't assess how serious the hepatitis infection was and never provided Krajeski with antiviral therapy, the lawsuit said.

At the time the lawsuit was filed, Krajeski said he'd been given two years to live and the department of corrections was refusing to give him any treatment for his illness.

The state agreed in June 2017 to pay Krajeski $100,000 in a settlement, allow him to continue to receive all the medical treatment and evaluations he needed for as long as he was incarcerated and cover all payments associated with a potential liver transplant and immediate aftercare. It was estimated to cost up to $1.5 million.

It's not clear if Krajeski received a liver transplant.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey