TERRE HAUTE- Joseph H. Hogsett, the United States Attorney, announced that Aeron Curtis Bush, 39, an inmate of the United States Penitentiary at Terre Haute, pled guilty to possession of 15 homemade contraband weapons, commonly referred to as “shanks" in a prison setting.
“Protecting our federal prison employees is a top priority of this Office," said Hogsett. “We will not allow inmates to get the upper hand in the Bureau of Prisons."
On Aug. 25, 2012, officers at the penitentiary stopped Bush to conduct a random visual search. Upon searching Bush’s clothes, officers noticed homemade knife sheaths sewn into the inside of both his shorts and underwear. An officer then contacted the unit officer in Bush’s unit to secure Bush’s cell so it could be searched for weapons.
Officers searched the cell and located several pairs of shorts with sheaths sewn into the groin area. Upon inspection of the lower locker it was discovered that the rivets and bolts had been removed from the lower floor plate. Under this floor plate, 15 homemade metal and plastic weapons were discovered, along with multiple pieces of unsharpened metal. Bush was the only inmate assigned to this cell at the time.
Bush is currently imprisoned after being convicted of drug trafficking offenses in the Western District of Texas. His scheduled release for that conviction would have been May, 2018.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney James M. Warden who is prosecuting the case, Bush faces an additional five years in prison upon sentencing.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
