State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling announced today that Charles Henry Thompson, Jr., 32, of Lexington Park, Maryland, was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison for possessing a sharpened shank while detained at the local detention center.

On October 7, 2025, a deputy with the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office responded to the St. Mary’s County Detention and Rehabilitation Center to investigate a report of a concealed weapon. The deputy was advised that correctional officers had searched Thompson’s cell after detecting the smell of smoke. During the search, a shank was located among Thompson’s belongings. The weapon was approximately six inches long, filed to a sharp point, and suspected to have been fashioned from a broken mop handle.

“Lawlessness will not prevail in our detention center. Weapons have no place in a correctional facility, where they threaten the safety of both correctional personnel and detainees,” said State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling. “My office will continue to stand behind our correctional officers and hold accountable those who put their safety at risk. The walls of a detention center do not place anyone beyond the reach of the law, and criminal conduct will not be tolerated.”

Following a two-day jury trial in August 2026, Thompson was convicted of possession of a weapon while detained in a place of confinement and the possession of contraband in a place of confinement.

The sentence imposed in this case was ordered to be served consecutively to the 50-year-and-6-month active prison sentence for a domestic violence-related assault imposed in September 2026.

Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Lisa Ridge and Assistant State’s Attorney John Cardozo prosecuted the case on behalf of the citizens of St. Mary’s County.

Deputy Cody Donaldson of the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office was the lead investigator.

The Honorable Kevin Hill presided over the case.