Federal Inmate Gets Death Penalty for Murder of Fellow Prisoner in Beaumont
| U.S. Attorney’s Office May 18, 2009 |
BEAUMONT, TX—U.S. Attorney John M. Bales announced today that a 30-year-old federal inmate has been sentenced to die for the murder of a fellow prisoner at the United States Penitentiary in Beaumont (USP-Beaumont).
JOSEPH EBRON was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone. The sentencing hearing comes a week after Ebron was convicted of capital murder following a three week trial. Jurors deliberated for a week before finding Ebron guilty on May 11, 2009.
According to information from prosecutors, on May 7, 2005, Bureau of Prison officials working in the USP-Beaumont, discovered the body of Keith Barnes in his cell. Barnes had been stabbed to death. Surveillance film from cameras inside the cell block revealed that Ebron was involved in Barnes' murder.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph R. Batte and John Craft.