Inmate At United States Penitentiary Enters Guilty Plea To Assault Of Corrections Officer

SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a federal inmate at the United States Penitentiary at Canaan pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion in Scranton to the charge of assaulting a federal corrections officer.  

According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, Orlando Garcia-Mata, age 24, formerly of Texas, admitted to throwing a punch at a corrections officer at the United States Penitentiary at Canaan on March 22, 2016.

Garcia-Mata was indicted by a federal grand jury in Scranton in April 2016, as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Prisons Special Investigative Service 

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. O’Hara

A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

In this case, the maximum penalty which can be imposed under federal law is 8 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a $100,000 fine.

Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.

# # #