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Press Release

USP Lee Inmate Sentenced to 188 Months for Attempted Murder of Fellow Inmate

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Virginia

ABINGDON, Va. – Moris Alexis Flores, 33, an inmate at United States Penitentiary Lee County (USP Lee), was sentenced yesterday to over 15 years in prison for conspiring to murder a fellow inmate, attempting to commit murder, and being an inmate in possession of a prohibited object in relation to an assault that occurred at USP Lee in January 2020.

According to court documents, Flores, a member of the MS-13 gang, and four fellow inmates - Carlos Alfredo Almonte, Julio Angle Chavez, German Arquimides Hernandez, and Angel Moreno Guevara – were charged with conspiring to murder another inmate, “AZ”, a member of the Mexican Mafia gang.  Armed with metal shanks, Flores and Guevara entered AZ’s cell and stabbed AZ multiple times.  While Flores and Guevara were assaulting AZ, Almonte, Chavez, and Hernandez blocked the prison cell doorway in an effort to prevent other inmates and prison staff from interfering with the attack.  As a consequence of the attack, AZ sustained multiple stab wounds but ultimately survived.

Almonte, Chavez, Hernandez, and Guevara have each pled guilty for their roles in the assault and will be sentenced in June 2022.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Prisons investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lena L. Busscher, Daniel J. Murphy, Whit D. Pierce, and Anthony P. Giorno are prosecuting the case.

Updated April 7, 2022

Topic
Violent Crime