Federal Inmate Pleads Guilty to Assaulting an Officer

SACRAMENTO, CA—Leonard Griffin, 43, currently in federal custody at the Federal Correctional Institute in Herlong (Susanville), pleaded guilty Wednesday to assault on a federal officer, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, on December 3, 2011, Griffin approached a correctional officer from behind and punched him several times. The officer suffered a broken orbital bone in his right eye, a concussion, cuts to his face, and bruising on his body. A sock weighted with a padlock was found in Griffin’s pants pocket.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Reardon is prosecuting the case.

Griffin is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on April 2, 2014. Griffin faces a maximum statutory penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, which will be served following the completion of Griffin’s current federal sentence in 2020, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.