Inmate at United States Penitentiary at Canaan Pleads Guilty to Possession of Contraband and is Sentenced to Serve an Additional Six Months in Prison

SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Charles Elegalam, age 31, formerly of Washington, D.C., currently an inmate at the United States Penitentiary at Canaan (USP Canaan), Waymart, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty on August 5, 2019, before Senior U.S. District Court Judge James M. Munley, to possession of contraband by inmate. 

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Elegalam admitted to obtaining several small packages of marijuana from his co-defendant, Tianna Thompson, age 25, also of Washington D.C., during a social visit at USP Canaan on July 1, 2017.  The marijuana packages were subsequently seized from Elegalam by prison staff members.  After entering his guilty plea, Elegalam was immediately sentenced by Senior Judge Munley to serve an additional six months in prison, which will be served after Elegalam completes his current sentence.

Thompson is currently awaiting sentencing.

The matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Prisons Special Investigative Service.  Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. O’Hara prosecuted the case.