Five Terre Haute Inmates Charged with Possession of Contraband

INDIANAPOLIS—Five inmates of the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute, Arturo Cantu, 33; Wilfredo Ilarraza, 31; John Mabery, 27; Kenneth Morris, 30; and Flavio Pelayo-Torres, 42, were indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Indianapolis with possession of contraband. These defendants were all charged in separate incidents that were the result of joint investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Prisons said U.S Attorney Timothy M. Morrison.

Cantu was charged with possession of contraband after prison officials allegedly found marijuana on his person on June 19, 2009. Ilarraza was allegedly found with a weapon on July 11, 2009; Mabery and Morris were allegedly found with weapons on March 21, 2009; Pelayo-Torres was allegedly found with a weapon on April 20, 2009. These weapons were sharpened pieces of metal.

According to Assistant U. S. Attorney James M. Warden, who is prosecuting these cases for the government, each inmate is faces up to five years’ confinement and/or fines of up to $250,000 for possession of contraband in a federal prison. If convicted, the sentence will run consecutive to the sentence currently being served.

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