Former Federal Correctional Officer Indicted in Plot to Kill

Ocala, Florida - A Florida grand jury has returned an indictment charging Michael E. Rudkin (age 40, an inmate at the Federal Correctional Complex in Coleman, Florida) with attempting to kill a Special Agent with the United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, with attempting to kill another person in retaliation for providing information to law enforcement, with attempting to injure yet another person in retaliation for appearing as a witness, and with use of the mail and a facility in interstate commerce in connection with attempted murders. If convicted on all counts, Rudkin faces a maximum penalty of 100 years in federal prison Rudkin was formerly a U.S. Bureau of Prisons Correctional Officer in Danbury, Connecticut. He was convicted and sentenced in the District Court of Connecticut on January 15, 2009, for use of an interstate commerce facility for murder for hire, and for sexual abuse of a inmate. Rudkin was serving that sentence as an inmate at the Federal Correctional Complex in Coleman, Florida. According to the indictment, while at the Federal Correctional Complex in Coleman, Florida Rudkin solicited another person to commit murders, made an initial payment of $500.00 for committing murders, and promised to ensure that additional monies would be forthcoming. An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty. This case was investigated by the United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.