Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York | Department of Justice
Mario Powell has been sentenced to 97 months in prison for attacking a federal corrections officer at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in New York. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan following Powell’s conviction in September 2025 for assaulting a corrections officer with a deadly weapon and possessing contraband while incarcerated.
According to court documents and trial evidence, on May 30, 2020, Powell assaulted a corrections officer using a weapon constructed from razor blades, causing lacerations to the officer’s neck.
“Mario Powell brazenly ambushed a corrections officer at the Metropolitan Correction Center in New York City, trying to slit his throat,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “This sentence shows that violence in our corrections facilities will trigger meaningful consequences.”
In addition to his prison term, Powell, who is 34 years old and from the Bronx, New York, was ordered to serve three years of supervised release upon completion of his sentence.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton acknowledged former MCC staff for their assistance and commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its investigative work.
The prosecution was managed by the General Crimes Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas John Wright, Henry L. Ross, and Leslie B. Arffa led the case.
