FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

MONDAY - January 5, 2009

INMATE PLEADS GUILTY TO CHARGES RELATED
TO SMUGGLING A FIREARM INTO PRISON

WILMINGTON - United States Attorney George E.B. Holding announced that in federal court today LAWRENCE WOODARD, 38, an inmate at Butner Federal Correctional Institute, pled guilty for conspiring to smuggle a firearm into a federal prison, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1791(d) and obtaining contraband by a federal prisoner, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1791(a)(1), before Senior United States District Judge James C. Fox.

A Federal Grand Jury returned a Criminal Indictment on July 17, 2008. In March, 2006, WOODARD and Craig Lamont Butler (who has been charged in federal court) arranged to have a firearm smuggled into the facility. WOODARD then contacted the guards and told them that another inmate was going to smuggle a firearm into the institute. On April 9, 2006, WOODARD and Butler contacted the guards again and told them the firearm was in the facility and gave them the location, identifying two other inmates as having smuggled in the weapon. The intent was an attempt to have their sentences reduced by alerting authorities to the whereabouts of the weapon and falsely naming other inmates.

Mr. Holding commented: “The security of the federal prison system is essential to the proper administration of justice in this country. Prosecutions like this one are important to maintaining the integrity of the prison system.”

The maximum penalty for conspiring to smuggle a firearm into a federal prison is up to five years imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. For obtaining contraband by a federal prisoner, the maximum penalty is up to ten years imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

Sentencing is set for April 13, 2009.

Butler was charged and plead guilty to obtaining contraband while in prison on May 27, 2008.

Investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Butner Correctional Facility Special Investigative Services. Assistant United States Attorney Jane Jackson served as prosecutor for the government.

News releases are available on the U. S. Attorney’s web page at www.usdoj.gov/usao/nce within 48 hours of release.