SPRINGFIELD (AP) – An inmate at a federal prison hospital in Springfield has been sentenced to nearly 20 years for assaulting a counselor at the facility.

The U.S. Attorney’s office says 34-year-old Willard Begay must also pay $2,500 for the counselor’s injuries under the sentence he received Thursday.

The attack happened in October 2012 at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, where Begay was serving more than seven years for an assault in Arizona.

Begay was convicted earlier this year of punching the counselor and smashing a computer printer on the man’s face, breaking a bone near his eye.

Prosecutors say the counselor was meeting with Begay to discuss problems he was having with other inmates. The counselor was handcuffing Begay before his move to another unit when the attack occurred.