Jiniye Hooks Previously Pled Guilty to Eight Felony Charges for Possessing a Scalpel and Using a Blade to Slash Another Inmate
Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, Jiniye Hooks, 21, of Manhattan, was sentenced in Orange County Court to an aggregate term of nine (9) to eleven (11) years in prison to be followed by five (5) years of post-release supervision relative to his guilty pleas to Attempted Assault in the First Degree (two counts), Assault in the Second Degree (three counts), Promoting Prison Contraband in the First Degree (two counts), and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree. The imposed sentence was ordered to run consecutive to the twenty (20) years to life sentence Hooks was serving for a 2024 murder in Manhattan.
As alleged in documents filed and statements made in court, while Hooks was an inmate at Goshen Secure Center serving the above-mentioned sentence for his crimes in Manhattan, on January 2, 2025 at approximately 2:15 p.m., he was found to be in possession of a medical scalpel. Further, at the same location on April 19, 2025 at approximately 3:12 p.m., Hooks used a ceramic blade hidden inside of a pen cap to attempt to slash another inmate about the neck and face. At the plea proceedings, Hooks admitted to attempting to cause serious physical injury to the victim by means of a dangerous instrument and to injuring an employee of the facility during the incident. Further, Hooks admitted to possessing the scalpel on the earlier date.
District Attorney Hoovler thanked the Office of Children and Family Services as well as the New York State Police for their investigation which led to the arrest of Hooks.
“This defendant’s demonstrated pattern of unthinkable violence requires sentences that continue to remove him from the rest of society,” said District Attorney David M. Hoovler. “Dedicated civil servants inside of our correctional facilities do dangerous work every day and those who seek to put these employees at risk of injury deserve serious punishment. Our community is safer with this violent offender continuing to be incarcerated under the terms of the sentence imposed by the court.”
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Anthony Molina.
A criminal charge is merely an allegation by the police that a defendant has committed a violation of the criminal law, and it is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the State of New York’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
