A federal grand jury has indicted Ishmael Petty, 56, on two counts: first-degree murder and murder by a federal prisoner serving a life sentence, officials stated.
According to court documents, Petty killed a fellow inmate on Sept. 19, 2020, at the U.S. Penitentiary-Florence Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Colorado. Petty has been in federal custody since 1998 for bank robbery, was sentenced to life in 2002 for murdering another inmate, and received an additional 60-year sentence in 2015 for assaulting two federal officers at ADX.
Attorney General Bondi has authorized prosecutors to seek the death penalty. The U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado has filed a formal notice of intent to pursue capital punishment, officials stated.
The FBI’s Denver Field Office is investigating the case, which is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Violent Crime and Immigration Enforcement Section and the Justice Department’s Capital Case Section.