Detrick L. Layfield, Prison Shanking, Illinois 2018

Former Greenville Inmate Sentenced to Additional Prison Time for Prison Shanking

A federal jury in East St. Louis, Illinois, convicted 40-year-old Detrick L. Layfield on all three charges: prison assault, possession of contraband by a federal inmate, and attempted obstruction of justice. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Prisons' Special Investigations Section and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The federal prison sentence for Detrick L. Layfield just got a lot longer. The 92-month sentence Layfield received this week was ordered to run consecutively to the 110-month sentence he was already serving on a firearms conviction he sustained in the Western District of Kentucky.

Layfield had been scheduled for release in July 2019 before the attack. The evidence at trial established that, on September 1, 2017, Layfield was being housed at FCI-Greenville when he assaulted the victim – a fellow inmate identified in court documents only as 'S.D.' – with a sharp, improvised weapon known as a 'shank.'

The attack was purportedly motivated by the fact that S.D. had been telling other inmates that Layfield did not pay his debts. A portion of the assault was caught on videotape and shown to the jury during the trial. Immediately after the attack, Layfield asked two other inmates to help him hide the weapon.

One of the inmates went to the laundry room and hid the shank in a dryer. The weapon was later found after the two men were questioned and confessed their role in the attempted cover-up. Shanks and other weapons are considered prison contraband, possession of which constitutes a separate offense.

The prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott. Layfield's additional 92-month sentence brings his total prison time to 202 months.

Defendant: Detrick L. Layfield

Criminal charges: Prison assault, possession of contraband by a federal inmate, and attempted obstruction of justice

City and state: Greenville, Illinois

Exact date: September 1, 2017, and April 2018 (sentencing)

Sentence or outcome: 92 months (additional prison time) and 110 months (pre-existing sentence)

Dollar amounts: None

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdil/pr/former-greenville-inmate-will-remain-behind-bars-after-shanking-conviction