BEAUMONT — A 37-year-old federal inmate has been sentenced for receiving contraband in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales on Thursday.

Donald James Bratton, Jr., of Little Rock, AR, pleaded guilty on Jan. 6, 2015, to attempting to obtain a prohibited object by a federal inmate and was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Ron Clark.

According to information presented in court, on Oct. 1, 2012, Bratton, Jr., was visited by his father, Donald James Bratton, Sr., at the U.S. Penitentiary in the Federal Correctional Complex in Beaumont.  During the visitation, officers using surveillance equipment observed Bratton Jr. obtain an object from the waistband of his father.  Officers responded to the visitation room and separated the Brattons.  The item contained 12.25 grams of heroin.  The father and son were indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 1, 2013.  Bratton Sr. was sentenced to 3 years of probation on May 12, 2015.

Bratton Jr. was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm in the Western District of Arkansas on Mar. 31, 2010, and sentenced to 211 months in federal prison.  He must serve his 37 month sentence from this conviction following the conclusion of his current prison sentence.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Prisons, Special Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall L. Fluke.