Federal Bureau of Prisons officials remain tight-lipped about the investigation into the death of a former Santa Fe attorney last week in a California prison.

But the attorney of Robert A. Warren, 72, who died in federal custody Dec. 29 after pleading guilty to child pornography charges, is being very vocal about his concerns that his client's death could have been prevented.

"He agreed to a period of incarceration. He didn't agree to be murdered," Marc Lowry, one of Warren's attorneys from the Rothstein law firm said Wednesday.

James Engleman, a spokesman for the Victorville Federal Correctional Complex, has not returned emails or telephone calls seeking comment on the death investigation. Lowry, meanwhile, said neither he nor Warren's widow have been apprised of many, if any, details into how her husband was killed or if anybody has been charged.

Lowry has little doubt his client was targeted from Day One in federal custody because of the nature of his crimes. Warren, Lowry said, was first attacked at the Victorville prison facility in Adelanto, Calif., within 12 hours of his being transferred there in July after his guilty plea and five-year sentence for a charge of receiving child pornography on the Internet. While waiting for his morning medication the morning after arriving at the facility, two fellow inmates attacked Warren, landing him in the hospital and in protective custody for much of his prison stay after that.

"I think he was targeted because of the charges against him, and that's a problem because the Bureau of Prisons knows that people entering prison with these types of problems are subject to abuse," Lowry said. "It is their duty to protect inmates they know are targets."

Lowry and co-counsel Peter Schoenberg wrote in July to both the U.S. Department of Justice and to the warden of the Victorville prison asking to have Warren transferred, to no avail.

Aside from Warren being targeted by fellow inmates, the 72-year-old man walked with a cane, had diabetes and wasn't in the best physical condition, which is why, Lowry said, U.S. District Judge Bruce D. Black recommended at sentencing that Warren be confined to a medical prison facility in Arizona. Warren had no prior criminal record.

But once in federal custody, the Bureau of Prisons does not have to adhere to a judge's recommendations.

"I think that's one of the tragic downsides of this, that the federal Bureau of Prisons should be considering some sort of facility solely for people with charges like this," Lowry said.

The sentencing itself for Warren allowed no wiggle room for Black, because Congress has approved guidelines requiring mandatory sentences that leave no discretion to sentencing judges.

An alternative for a man such as Warren, Lowry said, would have been house arrest with an ankle bracelet and no access to the Internet, children or a smart phone while serving his sentence.

"His death is a tragic loss for the community," Lowry said. "There was widespread support for Mr. Warren within the community, and everyone that came to the sentencing was mystified that a man of his age and in his physical condition could get a sentence for so long. ... The tragedy here is judges aren't allowed to escape the mandatory sentences called for by Congress."

The Rothstein firm was appealing Warren's conviction related to an issue the defense had with how police conducted a search of Warren's home.

Lowry said it would be premature to discuss whether the firm and Warren's widow will be seeking legal action against the Bureau of Prisons for Warren's death.

Contact Geoff Grammer at 986-3076 or ggrammer@sfnewmexican.com. Read his blog at SantaFeCrime.com.