Lamar Elmer Smith, 32, an inmate at the United States Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois, pled guilty today in in United States District Court in Benton to charges that he possessed a weapon in that prison, announced Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois. The indictment, returned by a Federal Grand Jury on November 6th, alleged that the offense occurred on Aug. 16, 2012. The weapon Smith possessed was a 7 inch long piece of sharpened metal, which appeared to be constructed from fence material, and resembled an ice pick.
At the time he possessed the weapon, Smith was serving a 211 month sentence imposed in the Eastern District of Missouri for conspiring to distribute cocaine and possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.
Sentencing was set for May 16, 2013, at 10:30 a.m. at the United States District Courthouse in Benton. At that time, Smith faces up to 5 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and 3 years of supervised release to follow his incarceration. Federal law requires that any term of imprisonment for the weapon offense be imposed consecutively to the 211 month sentence he was already serving. Following the hearing, Smith was returned to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons to await sentencing.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James M. Cutchin.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
