Source: US FBI
PEORIA, Ill. – Darell Reed, 35, who is currently incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Pekin, Illinois (FCI-Pekin), was sentenced on August 5, 2025, to 15 months’ imprisonment and a special assessment of $100 for possession of a prohibited object in prison. This sentence will be served consecutive to the federal sentence Reed is already serving for conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
At the sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Jonathan E. Hawley, the government presented information that, on March 10, 2024, Reed, an inmate at FCI-Pekin, was visited at the prison, and that an object was transferred between the visitor and Reed. Reed was then monitored and personnel ultimately recovered two small orange balloons that contained 30 orange pieces of film, wrapped in cellophane. The strips were identified as containing Suboxone, and buprenorphine, Schedule III controlled substances, which are prohibited in the prison.
The statutory penalties for possession of contraband by an inmate are not more than five years imprisonment, to be served consecutive to the existing term of imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, a mandatory special assessment of $100, and not more than three years supervised release.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons Special Investigative Services investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa P. Ortiz represented the government in the prosecution.