Three face contraband charges

Men accused of trying to provide drug to an inmate

(Dreamstime/TNS)
(Dreamstime/TNS)

A federal indictment unsealed this week accuses three men of illegally attempting to provide a drug used to treat opioid addiction to an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Texarkana, Texas.

An indictment issued March 21 by a federal grand jury in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas was unsealed Monday at an arraignment hearing for Jeffery Lee Anderson. Anderson was the last of the three defendants to be arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven at the federal courthouse in downtown Texarkana.

Jack Elton Willie and Kevin Tyler were arraigned April 3 before Craven. Ages are not available for any of the defendants.

Willie appeared with Texarkana lawyer John David Crisp, Tyler appeared with Texarkana lawyer Matthew Golden and Anderson appeared with Texarkana lawyer Howard Mowery. All entered pleas of not guilty. All remain in federal custody.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lucas Machicek is representing the government.

Count one of the indictment alleges Anderson and Willie together attempted March 28, 2017, to provide buprenorphine to a Texarkana FCI inmate. Count two alleges the same conduct on the same day by Anderson and Tyler. Count three accuses Anderson and Willie of attempting together April 17, 2017, to provide buprenorphine to an FCI inmate in Texarkana. Count four accuses Anderson and Willie of the same conduct on the same day as count three.

Buprenorphine is a drug used to help individuals abusing an opioid, such as heroin or the prescription drug oxycodone, when they are attempting to rid themselves of addiction and avoid the symptoms of withdrawal. Suboxone is a drug that is largely buprenorphine but contains naloxone, as well. If injected, the naloxone negates the effects of the opiate buprenorphine, thus making it less likely to be abused by intravenous drug users.

If used orally, either in pill or in the form of a film that is dissolved beneath the tongue, Suboxone can give the user a high, particularly if that person does not suffer from an opioid addiction. According to articles published in the New York Times and other media, Suboxone is increasingly being smuggled into jails and prisons.

A Texarkana FCI inmate received a 24-month sentence in March at a hearing in Texarkana before U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III, according to court records.

Chester Brown, 42, received mail with strips of Suboxone, the type that is used sublingually, hidden beneath postage stamps. Correctional officers monitoring Brown's phone calls determined that a relative of Brown's planned to send him a controlled substance in the mail, according to a factual basis document used to create the following account.

Two letters addressed to Brown were intercepted in the Texarkana FCI mailroom on March 29, 2017. Each of the letters bore two stamps and beneath each stamp were two strips of Suboxone for a total of eight Suboxone film strips. Testing by the Drug Enforcement Agency revealed the strips were Suboxone containing buprenorphine.

Brown must serve the 24-month sentence he received for possessing contraband in prison consecutively to the time he was already serving for drug distribution.

Anderson, Willie and Tyler face up to 20 years in federal prison, a fine up to $250,000, or both if convicted of attempt to provide contraband in prison and aiding and abetting. Anderson is charged in four counts, Willie is charged in three counts and Tyler is charged in a single count. All three defendants are scheduled for trial in June before Schroeder in Texarkana's downtown federal building.

 

[email protected]

Upcoming Events