Inmates at Florence prisons sentenced for committing new crimes while behind bars

Two inmates at two different prisons in Florence were sentenced Friday for committing crimes behind bars.

The Department of Justice says Silvestre Rivera, 57, was sentenced to life in prison for killing another inmate at the ADX Florence supermax prison.

Rivera was convicted of murdering Manuel Torrez while they were exercising in the prison’s recreation area on April 21, 2005.

The DOJ says Rivera, Torrez and a third man who is awaiting trial in the crime were all members of the Mexican Mafia.

Also Friday (6/19/15), Theron Maxton, 60, was sentenced to 100 months in federal prison and three years supervised release for threatening to assault or kill correctional officers and their families.

Maxton was serving time at the Florence Correctional Complex when he made the threats.

The DOJ says the threats were made in letters to corrections officers, and that in one letter he tried to convince a recently released cellmate to kill prison staff members and their families.

Maxton’s new sentence will be served consecutive to his current prison sentence for threatening federal officers in South Carolina.