Lewisburg inmate convicted of intending to kill cellmate, U.S. officials say

Francis Scarcella, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
·2 min read

Feb. 10—WILLIAMSPORT — An inmate at the federal prison in Lewisburg was convicted of assault with intent to commit murder and assault resulting in bodily injury following a three-day trial in Williamsport, according to the United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Lorenzo Scott, formerly of Rayville, Louisiana, and an inmate at the United States Penitentiary (USP) at Lewisburg, was recently convicted. U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam said Scott, as an inmate at USP Lewisburg, on March 25, 2015, physically assaulted his cellmate and repeatedly struck, stomped, and inflicted blunt force trauma to the cellmate's head resulting in severe, life-threatening injuries.

A corrections officer at USP Lewisburg conducting rounds at 4 a.m. observed Scott stomping on the cellmate's head as the cellmate lay on the floor of the cell in a puddle of blood, the release said.

The cellmate died approximately two years and two months after the assault from the injuries inflicted by Scott, according to officials.

The indictment in this case originally charged Lorenzo Scott with murder. However, the charge of murder was withdrawn by the government due to existing federal case law regarding the year-and-a-day rule, which bars a prosecution for murder in cases in which the victim dies more than a year and a day after the infliction of the wound causing the victim's death, the release said.

During the trial, Scott testified and admitted that, without provocation, he assaulted and intended to kill his victim, according to officials.

A bill has been introduced in Congress to abolish the year-and-a-day rule in federal murder cases, the release said.

FBI-Williamsport Division and the Bureau of Prisons Special Investigations Section investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. O'Hara and Kyle A. Moreno prosecuted the case.

The charges of assault with intent to commit murder and assault resulting in serious bodily injury each carry a maximum sentence under federal law of up to 20 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.