Mass. man serving life sentence pleads guilty after he 'shanked' another inmate
A New Bedford man already convicted of murder and in prison pleaded guilty to stabbing another inmate with a shank in 2022, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III's office said Friday.
Ivan Fontanez, 28, pleaded guilty on Friday, July 18, in Fall River Superior Court to the charge of assault on another inmate, Quinn's office said in a statement. Judge Thomas Perrino sentenced Fontanez to three to five years in the State Prison.
Fontanez was already serving a life sentence for the 2017 shooting death of Brad Laurenco in New Bedford, WJAR reported in November 2023.
"Despite being held on murder charges, the defendant 'shanked' another inmate," Quinn said in his statement. "Fortunately, the incident was captured on video surveillance because the other inmate was not cooperative. I am pleased the defendant was held accountable for this 'lawless' behavior in the jail. This defendant is serving a life sentence for murder."
Fontanez and the other inmate lived in the Bristol County House of Correction in Dartmouth at the time of the incident, on Dec. 19, 2022, Quinn's office said. Fontanez was awaiting trial for second-degree murder, for which he was later found guilty.
That day at around 5:26 p.m., the other inmate "engaged in a physical altercation with another inmate" while handcuffed, the statement described. Carrying a makeshift knife, or a shank, Fontanez joined the altercation, punched the other inmate and stabbed him in the back. Correctional officers split up the fight as Fontanez punched and kicked the other inmate.
The other inmate was taken to a nearby hospital to treat a fractured nose and minor puncture wounds, Quinn's office said.
Maintenance staff later found the shank "disposed of by another inmate in a toilet," Quinn's office said.
Fontanez did not cooperate with investigators, the district attorney's office said.
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