Inmate Sentenced To 57 Months In Prison For Assaulting Former Cellmate With Contraband Knife

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that DA'QUAN TUCKER was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Philip M. Halpern to 57 months in prison for repeatedly stabbing his former cellmate in the head and face with a 6-inch contraband knife on April 3, 2024, while incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution ("FCI") Otisville. In March 2025, TUCKER pled guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon and possessing contraband in prison.

"Da'Quan Tucker brutally attacked a fellow inmate in the prison yard at FCI Otisville without provocation by repeatedly stabbing him in the head and face with a contraband knife," said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. "Violence like this risks the lives and safety of inmates and prison staff and will not be tolerated in federal prison. Today's sentence demonstrates that such conduct will be met with serious punishment."

According to the Indictment, court filings and statements made in court:

On April 3, 2024, TUCKER was incarcerated at FCI Otisville, where he was serving a sentence related to a robbery he committed in July 2023 while he was on supervised release. That day, TUCKER, without provocation, repeatedly stabbed another inmate-his former cellmate-in the head and face using a six-inch contraband knife. Following the assault, TUCKER told prison staff that he would attack the victim again if he had the chance and would try to kill him.

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In addition to the prison term TUCKER, 23 of Washington, D.C., was sentenced to three years of supervised release.

Mr. Clayton thanked the staff of FCI Otisville for their assistance and praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force.

This case is being prosecuted by the Office's White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shaun E. Werbelow and Justin L. Brooke are in charge of the prosecution.