Manhattan resident Jiniye Hooks, 21, was sentenced in Orange County Court on Wednesday, Oct. 7, to an additional nine to 11 years in prison, Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler announced on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
The new sentence will run consecutively to the 20-years-to-life sentence Hooks was already serving for a 2024 murder in Manhattan.
According to prosecutors, the new charges stemmed from two incidents at Goshen Secure Center in 2025. The first happened on Jan. 2, 2025, around 2:15 p.m., when Hooks was found possessing a medical scalpel while incarcerated at the facility.
Several months later, on April 19, 2025, around 3:12 p.m., Hooks used a ceramic blade hidden inside a pen cap to try to slash another inmate in the neck and face, prosecutors said.
During his guilty plea, Hooks admitted that he intended to cause serious physical injury to the other inmate using the weapon, the DA's Office said. He also acknowledged injuring an employee of the facility during the incident.
Hooks pleaded guilty to eight felony charges, including two counts of first-degree attempted assault, three counts of second-degree assault, two counts of first-degree promoting prison contraband, and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
In addition to the prison sentence, Hooks was ordered to serve five years of post-release supervision.
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