Aaron Hernandez Latest News Update: Knife Found in Cell of Former NFL Star
Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez has reportedly been transferred to a different unit and out of the prison's general cells after a knife was found in his cell at the Souza Baranowski Correctional Facility.
According to ESPN, authorities found a "shank-like weapon" in his cell while conducting their usual rounds in prison. Multiple other outlets reported that he was immediately moved to a segregation unit after the weapon was discovered.
There have been reports in the past months and year linking the former New England Patriots tight end to gangs inside the correctional center. He was reported to have had a brawl with two other inmates in May, resulting to Hernandez being moved to a "special management" unit.
He was also indicted in 2014 after allegedly punching an inmate and exchanging heated words with the inmate who was being moved from another center.
ABC News reported earlier that a prison official who requested to be unidentified said the May prison trouble that Hernandez put himself into appeared to be "gang related." It also appeared that he and another inmate were taking on one prisoner. "It was two-on-one, he was part of the two" the official said.
The outlet also said that after the brawl, prison officials discovered that Hernandez, who is now serving life in prison, sported a new tattoo linked to the Bloods gang, which further adds to the theory that the fight was related to a gang war.
The incident follows just a month after Hernandez was convicted to life in the murder of his friend Odin Lloyd. The jury found Hernandez guilty of killing Lloyd, whose body, mangled with bullets, was found about a mile from Hernandez's mansion.
Aside from the Llyod murder conviction, he is facing charges for the double murder of two men who were shot in the Boston area. Authorities said the shooting was fueled by an incident at a popular nightclub's dance floor.