ALEXANDRIA, La. - Acting United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that Jesus Sanchez, 37, a U.S. Bureau of Prisons inmate, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Dee D. Drell to 360 months in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, for second degree murder.
According to evidence presented to the court, on or about June 18, 2014, an inmate arrived at the United States Penitentiary (USP) Pollock. At approximately 7:23 p.m. on that day, cellmates Jesus Sanchez and his co-defendant, David Cortez, aided and abetted by each other, stabbed the newly arrived inmate with a knife on the recreation yard at USP Pollock.
The inmate victim had 19 stab wounds in his upper and lower back, chest, shoulders, arms, neck, and head, and later died at the hospital from injuries sustained from the stabbing. Sanchez and Cortez admitted to killing the inmate victim with malice aforethought.
Cortez previously pleaded guilty to second degree murder in connection with this incident and was sentenced to 350 months to run consecutive to the federal sentence he was already serving.
The FBI investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary J. Mudrick prosecuted the case.