By Khalida Sarwari
A Salinas Valley State Prison inmate convicted of possessing a stabbing weapon he had concealed in his rectum faces 25 years to life in prison, according to prosecutors.
A Monterey County jury on Wednesday found Miguel Angel Gonzalez, 23, guilty of felony possession of a sharp instrument that could be used as a stabbing weapon in a correctional facility, prosecutors said.
Gonzalez had hidden the weapon in his rectum and then later complained to correctional officers that he was unable to pass it. The weapon was surgically removed at Natividad Medical Center.
He is serving consecutive terms in prison for two separate strike offenses, including robbery with a deadly or dangerous weapon and assault with a deadly weapon with enhancements for infliction of great bodily injury, and committing the assault for the benefit of a street gang, according to prosecutors.
He was convicted of the offenses in April 2008 in Santa Cruz County.
Gonzalez is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 10.