An inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Texarkana appeared in court Wednesday on a federal indictment accusing him of possessing synthetic marijuana in prison.
Marcus Tarrin Ellis, 45, is the only defendant named in a two-count federal indictment handed down by a grand jury April 20 of possessing XLR-11 and AB-CHMINACA-two forms of synthetic marijuana-while housed in Texarkana's federal prison Oct. 14. Ellis' indictment was unsealed Wednesday during an arraignment hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven in Texarkana's downtown federal building.
With the help of Longview, Texas, lawyer Greg Waldron, Ellis entered a not-guilty plea to each count. Ellis remains in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
He was sentenced in 2005 by a judge in Oklahoma to serve more than 30 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute and distribution of methamphetamine following a jury trial which ended in verdicts of guilty on both counts. Ellis' drug sentence was recently reduced to a little more than 20 years in keeping with changes to federal sentencing guidelines.
Ellis is currently scheduled for release in 2024. However, he could spend more time behind bars if found guilty of the crimes alleged in the indictment pending against him in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Locker is handling the case for the government.
Ellis' contraband-in-prison case is scheduled for trial June 27 before U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III.