United States v. Ricardo Gibson

PHILLIPS, Circuit Judge:

Ricardo Gibson challenges the district court ruling that the Assimilative Crimes Act (Act), 18 U.S.C. § 13, was properly invoked to charge him with prisoner possession of contraband while he was an inmate at the Lorton, Virginia, Reformatory. The charge was assimilated under the Act from Virginia law. Gibson maintains that he should not have been prosecuted under an assimilated Virginia statute because Lorton is a federal penal institution and the existence of a federal statute governing the same conduct precludes such assimilation. We hold that Lorton is not a federal…