An inmate at the U.S. Penitentiary Canaan in Waymart in Wayne County was found dead on Tuesday, authorities say.
At about 9:15 a.m., James Ray Ball, 47, was found unresponsive at the penitentiary and employees initiated life-saving measures.
Emergency medical services were summoned, but could not save Ball’s life. He was pronounced dead by the clinical director on scene.
No employees or other incarcerated individuals were injured and at no time was the public in danger, authorities said in a release.
Ball was sentenced in the Eastern District of Tennessee to a 51-month sentence for Conspiracy to Distribute a Quantity of Actual Methamphetamine. He had been in custody at the Waymart prison since March 26, 2026, according to a release issued by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
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