Two Federal Inmates Plead Guilty to Conspiracy to Obtain a Prohibited Object

U.S. Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that Quentin Tucker, age 29, and Devon Philips, age 36, appeared before United States Magistrate Judge John E. Simko on April 23, 2012 and pled guilty to an indictment that charged them with conspiracy to obtain a prohibited object. The maximum penalty upon conviction is six months in prison and/or a $5,000 fine.

Sometime before August 28, 2011, Tucker and Philips, both inmates of the Yankton Federal Prison Camp in Yankton, South Dakota, formed an agreement to smuggle tobacco into the prison camp. On August 28, 2011, Tucker jumped the prison camp’s fence, retrieved the tobacco from a pre-arranged location outside the prison camp, and brought it back into the prison camp. Philips acted as a look-out for the transaction.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Koopmann.

A presentence investigation was ordered, and a sentencing date was set for June 11, 2012. The defendants were remanded to the custody of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons pending sentencing.