Federal inmates plead guilty to possessing weapons in prison

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Two inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution at McDowell pleaded guilty today to possessing weapons in prison, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Antonio Freeman, 30, entered his guilty plea to possession of a weapon by an inmate. In a separate prosecution, Robert Aguon, 42, also pleaded guilty to possession of a weapon by an inmate.

Freeman admitted that on August 25, 2016, he ran away from staff members of the prison and threw an object on the roof of a building. A staff member retrieved the object and found that it was a piece of wood over five inches long that was sharpened to a point. There was tape on the other end of the object to serve as a handle and a cord attached as a lanyard. The object was a handcrafted weapon commonly known as a “shank.”

In a separate prosecution, Aguon admitted that on February 24, 2017, during a search, a staff member of the prison discovered an object inside the seam of Aguon’s pants. The object was a “shank,” and was made from a piece of metal, approximately six inches in length, sharpened to a point on one end with duct tape around the opposite end to form a handle.

Both Freeman and Aguon face up to five years in federal prison. The inmates are scheduled to be sentenced on October 24, 2017.

These cases were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Assistant United States Attorney John File is handling the prosecutions. The plea hearings were held before Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber.

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