Four inmates from the Terre Haute Federal Correctional Complex face charges

All face up to five years imprisonment consecutive to the current sentence

PRESS RELEASE

Terre Haute -United States Attorney Josh Minkler announced today that four inmates at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute have been indicted on charges of being a prisoner in possession of a weapon.  

“Correctional Officers at the BOP have an extremely dangerous job working with some of society’s most dangerous individuals,” said Minkler. “They do it professionally and without weapons to protect themselves. We owe it to them to hold federal inmates responsible for their illegal activity.”

Those indicted today include:

Robert B. Smith, 32, convicted of second-degree murder in the Western District of North Carolina.

Orlando Garcia, Jr. 39, convicted of felon in possession of a firearm in the Southern District of Texas.

Tony C. Hopkins, 53, convicted of possession of contraband in prison in the District of Colorado.

Timothy Gonzalez, 26, convicted of felon in possession of a firearm in the Northern District of Illinois.

Smith is alleged to have possessed a padlock attached to the end of a lanyard; Hopkins is alleged to have possessed a plastic knife; Garcia is alleged to have possessed a metal object and Gonzalez is alleged to have possessed a lock attached to a sock.

Minkler further noted that the United States Attorney’s Office has a zero tolerance policy  for inmates who possess weapons in the Bureau of Prisons in an effort to protect the correctional officers as well as other inmates.

According to Assistant United States Attorney James M. Warden who is prosecuting these cases for the government, all defendants face up to five years imprisonment consecutive to their current sentence.

An indictment is only a charge and not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

In October 2017, United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced a Strategic Plan designed to shape and strengthen the District’s response to its most significant public safety challenges. This prosecution demonstrates the Office’s firm commitment to prosecuting prisoner actions arising out of the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. See United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Indiana Strategic Plan 6.1

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