Hogsett Announces Conviction of Terre Haute Federal Inmate for First-Degree Murder
Convicted Bank Robber Faces Mandatory Life Sentence for Strangling Cellmate

INDIANAPOLIS—Joseph H. Hogsett, the United States Attorney, announced today that Daniel L. Delaney, age 46, an inmate in the Terre Haute Federal Correctional Complex, has been convicted of first-degree murder for strangling a fellow inmate to death on September 14, 2010.

“We have made a strong commitment to all those in the Terre Haute area that the safety and security of this federal correctional complex is a top priority for our office,” Hogsett said. “This guilty verdict is yet another significant result as we continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute anyone found to be endangering the safety of the Wabash Valley, the employees of this complex, or the inmates being held there.”

Delaney had been previously incarcerated for a series of bank robberies and shared a cell with a fellow inmate in the Special Housing Unit (SHU). As a result, the pair were locked down together for 23 hours per day.

Just after midnight on September 15, 2010, correctional officers from the SHU discovered Delaney’s cellmate lying on the floor of his cell with his hands bound in front of him with a torn bed sheet. They also found a similar bed sheet tied tightly around his neck. Vigo County Coroner Roland Kohr listed the case of death as ligature strangulation.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorneys James M. Warden and Matthew Brookman, who prosecuted the case, Delaney faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. This case was the result of a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and officials from the Bureau of Prisons in Terre Haute. The case was tried before U.S. District Court Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson in Terre Haute.