Pollock prisoner pleads guilty to possessing knife

ALEXANDRIA, La. – United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that a Pollock prisoner pleaded guilty last week to possessing a knife.

Eric Judy Blair, 40, a Pollock prisoner, pleaded guilty Friday before U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell to one count of possessing contraband in a prison. According to the guilty plea, prison guards were observing inmates going through a metal detector during a random search on June 11, 2017 at the U.S. Penitentiary at Pollock, La. When Blair could not clear the metal detector, he entered a second time and failed again. During a pat down, guards found a homemade metal knife approximately six and one-half inches long.

Blair faces up to five years in prison, one year of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The court set sentencing for May 18, 2018.

The FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons-Special Investigative Services conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Ayo is prosecuting the case.