By Joe Dolinsky

jdolinsky@timesleader.com

WILKES-BARRE — A jury was seated Monday in the trial of three men accused of sparking a riot at a local state prison.

The inmates’ day in court has been postponed numerous times since a district judge forwarded charges to county court in November 2010, but appears on track to begin Tuesday after a jury of nine women and five men was seated just after 5 p.m. Monday in Luzerne County Court.

Andre Jacobs, 33, Carrington Keys, 35, and Duane Peters, 44, were charged in 2010 with rioting and aggravated harassment by prisoner after police say the three inmates barricaded themselves inside their cells in the restricted housing unit at State Correctional Institution at Dallas in an act of protest against alleged mistreatment.

An extraction team removed the men, along with fellow inmates Anthony Locke, Anthony Kelly and Derrick Stanley, from their cells after they were given several orders to remove the coverings from their cell doors — a violation of the prisons code — and didn’t comply.

The inmates, who came to be collectively known as “the Dallas 6,” argued their actions were a means of protest that sought to draw the attention of prison officials about alleged injustices they were faced with while behind bars.

Assistant District Attorney James L. McMonagle is prosecuting the case.

Opening arguments are expected to begin Tuesday.

Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL