Government Seeks Death Penalty for Federal Inmate Charged with First Degree Murder

A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment this week, charging Ishmael Petty, 56, with first degree murder and murder by a federal prisoner serving a life sentence.

According to court documents, on Sept. 19, 2020, Petty murdered a fellow inmate while the two were housed in the same unit at the U.S. Penitentiary-Florence, Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence, Colorado. Petty has been in federal custody since a 1998 conviction for bank robbery. In 2002, Petty was sentenced to life in prison for murdering an inmate at another federal prison. In 2015, Petty was sentenced to 60 years in prison for an assault on two federal officers at ADX.

For the current charges, the maximum penalty is death, and Attorney General Bondi has authorized the United States Attorney for the District of Colorado to pursue capital punishment in this case. Consistent with that authorization, the U.S. Attorney filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty against Petty.

Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Acting U.S. Attorney J. Bishop Grewell for the District of Colorado made the announcement.

The FBI Denver Field Office investigated the case.

This case is being prosecuted by the Violent Crime and Immigration Enforcement Section of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado and the Criminal Division’s Capital Case Section.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.