deb
07-31-2003, 05:31 PM
Arizonan in California prison found dead in cell
Associated Press
Jul. 31, 2003 12:20 PM
ATWATER, Calif. - An Atwater Federal Penitentiary prisoner serving a life sentence for carjacking has been found dead in his cell, prison officials said.
Michael Edward Anita, 30, of Casa Grande, Ariz., was the victim of a possible stabbing on Wednesday, prison spokesman Jesse Gonzales said.
Anita, who was appealing his conviction, was being held in a special housing unit, a separate set of cells for inmates who commit serious violations under the Bureau of Prisons rules, Gonzales said.
Anita was charged with the federal crime of theft of a motor vehicle with intent to cause death or serious bodily harm because the crime may have occurred on an American Indian reservation, federal prosecutors said.
Federal officials say Anita and a partner abducted and killed a taxi driver in June 2000 to use the cab to smuggle people into the United States. Anita was a member of the Tohono O'odham Nation. The American Indian reservation west of Tucson stretches along the Mexican border.
Federal officials said Anita had a violent history and was an alleged member of a prison gang. At 18, Anita was convicted for fatally shooting a man following a disagreement.
"There is an indication he was a member of an Indian prison gang, the Warriors Society. He also was somewhat of a leader, so it's easy to see how he would be a problem," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jesse Figueroa said.
Officials said the homicide is the first at the 1,400-inmate maximum-security prison since it opened in January 2002.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0731inmatedeath-ON.html
**I wonder if he was really in a gang or simply in a Native group....
:( Deb
Associated Press
Jul. 31, 2003 12:20 PM
ATWATER, Calif. - An Atwater Federal Penitentiary prisoner serving a life sentence for carjacking has been found dead in his cell, prison officials said.
Michael Edward Anita, 30, of Casa Grande, Ariz., was the victim of a possible stabbing on Wednesday, prison spokesman Jesse Gonzales said.
Anita, who was appealing his conviction, was being held in a special housing unit, a separate set of cells for inmates who commit serious violations under the Bureau of Prisons rules, Gonzales said.
Anita was charged with the federal crime of theft of a motor vehicle with intent to cause death or serious bodily harm because the crime may have occurred on an American Indian reservation, federal prosecutors said.
Federal officials say Anita and a partner abducted and killed a taxi driver in June 2000 to use the cab to smuggle people into the United States. Anita was a member of the Tohono O'odham Nation. The American Indian reservation west of Tucson stretches along the Mexican border.
Federal officials said Anita had a violent history and was an alleged member of a prison gang. At 18, Anita was convicted for fatally shooting a man following a disagreement.
"There is an indication he was a member of an Indian prison gang, the Warriors Society. He also was somewhat of a leader, so it's easy to see how he would be a problem," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jesse Figueroa said.
Officials said the homicide is the first at the 1,400-inmate maximum-security prison since it opened in January 2002.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0731inmatedeath-ON.html
**I wonder if he was really in a gang or simply in a Native group....
:( Deb