Source: Office of United States Attorneys
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A former resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to two years of imprisonment on his conviction of possession of contraband in prison, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.
United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon imposed the sentence on Lafon Ellis, 30, who is currently incarcerated at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center.
According to information presented to the Court, throughout 2023, Ellis repeatedly possessed contraband and otherwise violated the law through his conduct while imprisoned at the Allegheny County Jail. On February 17, 2023, a search of Ellis’s cell revealed a Schedule I controlled substance commonly referred to as K2. On May 3, 2023, a search of his cell revealed a piece of paper that subsequent testing revealed to be K2. He also had 16 intact Suboxone strips and 57 partial Suboxone strips. On August 9, 2023, a search of Ellis’s cell revealed eight sheets of K2. A search of his cell on December 10, 2023, revealed marijuana, K2, and Suboxone. Additionally, Ellis was the subject of about two dozen other misconduct reports, most of which related to Ellis refusing to obey valid orders, threatening employees, engaging in physical altercations with employees, fighting with other inmates, threatening to kill a correctional officer, and possessing a nail that he was fashioning into a weapon.
Assistant United States Attorney Brendan T. Conway prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
Acting United States Attorney Rivetti commended the United States Marshals Service and Allegheny County Police Department for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Ellis.