Federal Inmate Convicted After Knife Attack at FCI-Greenville

Federal inmate Detrick L. Layfield, 40, has been found guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon intending bodily harm after attacking a fellow inmate at the Federal Correctional Institute in Greenville, Illinois. The conviction comes after a two-day federal jury trial in East St. Louis, Illinois, where Layfield was also found guilty of possessing a contraband weapon in the prison and attempting to obstruct justice. The charges against Layfield were originally brought in a federal indictment returned in October 2017.

The evidence at trial established that, on September 1, 2017, Layfield assaulted a fellow inmate with an improvised weapon (a sharp object known as a "shank"). The inmate was identified in court documents only as "S.D." Afterward, Layfield enlisted two other inmates in an attempt to conceal the whereabouts of the shank so it couldn’t be used against him in the federal prosecution. One of the inmates, however, revealed the location of the shank during an interview. Shanks and other weapons are considered prison contraband, possession of which constitutes a separate offense.

At the time of the attack, Layfield was incarcerated based on a federal conviction out of the Western District of Kentucky. He was scheduled to be released in July 2019. Sentencing is set for December 14, 2018. By statute, Layfield could receive as much as 35 years in prison for the three offenses.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Prisons’ Special Investigations Section and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott is prosecuting the case.