SCRANTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Pennsylvania, Middle), published as received.
SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Charles Epps, age 27, an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution, Schuylkill, in Minersville, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty on February 28, 2024, before U.S. District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani, to the charge of possession of contraband in prison. Epps was then sentenced by Judge Mariani to serve an additional six months in prison.
According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, Epps, formerly of Washington D.C., admitted to possessing a dangerous prison-made weapon, commonly known as a “shank.” The charge stems from an incident in May 2023, in which staff at FCI Schuylkill found Epps in possession of the weapon.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Prisons Special Investigative Service. Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. O’Hara is prosecuting the case.
At the time of the incident at FCI Schuylkill, Epps was serving a sentence from Washington D.C. for attempted assault with a dangerous weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm. That sentence does not expire until 2025. The sentence imposed by Judge Mariani for the charge of possession of contraband in prison will run consecutively to the Washington D.C. sentence.
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