The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma has reported a federal jury's conviction of Bryan Joshua Tewanema, an inmate from Arizona, who was found guilty of possession of a prohibited object inside the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City. This conviction stems from an incident earlier in the year when corrections officers discovered Tewanema with a "shank," a sharpened piece of plexiglass concealed in his pant leg, according to the statement by U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester cited by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Details from the trial, which concluded last Wednesday after two days of proceedings, revealed the severity of the offense, particularly as evidence showed Tewanema had a history with prohibited items. This was the fourth instance of a shank found either on him or in his cell, as the U.S. Attorney's Office elaborated.
As it stands, Tewanema – already serving time for second-degree murder and other charges related to a violent crime – is looking at an additional penalty for this current conviction. The sentence could tack on up to five years to his existing imprisonment, which is mandated to run consecutively, along with the possibility of a fine reaching up to $250,000, such penalties drawing a stark outline of the consequences that come with contraband within the federal correctional system, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Behind the case is the investigative effort of the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Special Investigative Services, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tiffany Edgmon and Jordan Ganz leading the prosecution. More detailed information pertaining to the case can be found through public filings made available by the U.S. Attorney's Office announcement.
