Morgan Wayne Siler, a 40-year-old from Portsmouth, Virginia, has been sentenced to two concurrent life terms in prison. The sentencing was delivered by United States District Judge Scott H. Rash following Siler's guilty plea to charges of murder and conspiracy to murder on September 11, 2024.
The incident occurred on December 18, 2015, at the United States Penitentiary in Tucson. Siler and his co-conspirator David Hammer were involved in the premeditated killing of another inmate at the facility. The victim died from asphyxia and blunt force injuries.
At the time of this crime, Siler was already serving time for previous convictions: a 2008 assault on a Bureau of Prisons corrections officer and a series of robberies in Virginia dating back to 2005. His new life sentences will be served consecutively with these prior sentences. David Hammer, who participated in the murder with Siler, passed away in 2019.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the investigation into this case. The prosecution was managed by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona in Tucson.