SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Drugs are a major problem within the Beehive State prison system, according to Utah Department of Corrections’ own data.
UDC’s executive director acknowledged the issue in response to questions from the 2News Investigates team.
UDC Executive Director Brian Redd said the problem has become so prominent that it defeats the purpose of getting inmates into drug rehabilitation programs.
Although many of the prisoners have finally been released on parole, they remain addicted to drugs.
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Officials said they are working to solve the problem, but they always seem to be one step behind the criminals responsible for infiltrating the penal system.
According to UDC data, prison gangs are primarily responsible for drug trafficking inside Utah prisons.
2News Investigates uncovered two such cases, revealing the interesting ways inmates made so much money from drug trafficking and what is being done to reduce it.
Example 1: Jesus Adolfo Valdes Jr.
Jesus Adolfo Valdez Jr., who is on parole, was transferred to prison on May 29, 2020 after the murder of handyman Tony Martinez.
More than a year later, on July 6, 2021, while awaiting trial, UDC officer Metzger searched Draper’s cell in Jail B Block. He found Suboxone behind a photo in a photo album he had.
Organized gang prosecutors with the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office charged Mr. Valdez with possession of drugs in a correctional facility, a Class A misdemeanor. His first court appearance was in November 2021 in Third District Court.
In exchange for pleading guilty to murder, Valdez’s defense attorney George Wright made sure the judge was aware of the plea deal prosecutors had given his client. He cited two first-degree felonies for which Valdez was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
“Reflecting the plea agreement, the remaining counts, including two counts of illegal weapons (one felony count), were also dismissed,” Wright said.
Pursuant to the plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed the drug case and multiple felonies. Valdez did not face any consequences for ultimately putting Suboxone behind bars.
“This is a small city, but we have deliveries all day long, things coming in, things going out,” said Mike Schoenfeld, UDC’s law enforcement director.
Valdez is one of dozens of inmates arrested for using drugs inside the prison.
Example 2: Taberon Honey
In November 2022, convicted murderer Taveron Honney tested positive for amphetamines in his urine. A retest yielded the same results. According to UDC disciplinary records, he was not prescribed this drug or any other medication that could cause a positive reaction.
2News Investigators asked Redd if Honey’s positive drug test was a surprise.
“No. We know that methamphetamine and fentanyl, all the drugs, can be brought in,” he said.
Schoenfeld said drug-soaked papers often arrive in the mail.
“This is a product that soaks paper and is used to remove water from car gas tanks and gas lines. It’s called HEAT,” he said. “We then dry it with a fan, write a letter on it, put it in an envelope and send it to the prison.”
When the letter reaches the prisoners, they cut it into small pieces and drug them.
“We’ve seen them melt it on the tongue,” Schoenfeld said. “We have them put it in their lower eyelid, and it just melts into their body inside the eyelid.”
2News Investigates request document for drug eradication plan from UDC. We asked Bart Mortensen, warden of the Utah Correctional Facility in Salt Lake, and Christine Keisel, warden of the prison in Gunnison, to submit monthly search reports. We also requested data from security officers.
We asked for findings from the facility’s cell search records, including gang unit officers’ findings regarding tips on contraband and drug intelligence, as well as interview records showing findings of contraband in jail and vehicle searches. I did.
UDC provided 211 pages of records and data.
Below is a sample of what was included in the recording. On Aug. 28, 2023, the memo states, “During a search of the cell phone, a cell phone, drugs and drug paraphernalia, and a video MP3 player were discovered.”
December 15, 2023, “While sorting the mail. I found a suspicious piece of paper that was found in another case. I took a photo of the paper and tested it. In the paper, a test result for Suboxone was positive. ”
On February 12, 2024, “Criminals were seen coordinating drug sales within USCF after recordings of prison calls were heard.”
The UDC summary reported that 48,303 people were screened by body scanners at the screening building.
“Over the past two years, 41,603 vehicles have been processed. There are no quantitative figures on drug and contraband seizures resulting from these processings. However, on average around 5 to 7 unauthorized vehicles are processed each week. goods and contraband have been seized.”
Schoenfeld said visitors also play a role.
“These are people who bring drugs and other contraband to family members who may be incarcerated there,” he said. “They’re bringing in this and that stuff for profit. Drugs are a very profitable business in prisons. The same drugs that are sold on the street, they’re sold inside prisons. You get 5 to 10 times the money. It’s big business and there are a lot of people making a lot of money. There are gang members in our prisons who have connections outside of drugs. So it’s very easy for them to get drugs from either route.”
2News requested phone records that document searches of mail and property to find contraband and drugs, as well as drug use and attempted smuggling written in critical incident reports by staff and investigators.
“It could come in through packages to the prison,” Redd said. “You know, our food transportation and correctional industries are developing and building a lot of things, so supplies are coming in and it can come in that way.”
“Profitable business”
“It’s a lucrative business. You’re promising people hundreds or thousands of dollars when you put these things in a banana box or a milk delivery,” Schoenfeld said.
Those involved can get very creative, he said.
“What’s really interesting is that the creativity that some inmates have is almost captivating. If you take the creativity that some inmates have and put your mind to it, they could become CEOs.”
To do so, law enforcement must intercept information, listen to inmate phone calls, and find out who the key players are.
“We occasionally intercept information from there. Meadow Gold is delivering here, so an inmate might be trying to get a friend to get a job at Meadow Gold Dairy. Or , Napa Auto Parts Co., it came in as an auto part. There’s a motor pool there,” Schoenfeld said.
2News also asked how many UDC correctional officers and staff have been disciplined or fired for facilitating the introduction of drugs into prisons in the past five years.
The records identify eight employees, but their names are kept secret, with the UDC saying the names are confidential and private, and that their release would interfere with the management and oversight of criminal incarceration. He said the incident amounted to an “unjustifiable personal violation.” privacy. “
2News asked which gang brought the most drugs into prison.
“I won’t name the gangs, but it’s everything from Hispanic gangs to Polynesian gangs to white supremacist gangs. We found that all of them were actively involved in the drug trade,” Schoenfeld said. said.
As for which prison has more drugs, Schoenfeld said Salt Lake has a much larger population as opposed to Gunnison, and Salt Lake has more violent criminals incarcerated. said.
Director Redd said he is attacking drugs inside Utah prisons, just as he did when he was director of state investigations for the Utah Department of Public Safety.
In that role, he was assigned to help oversee the Rio Grande operation in downtown Salt Lake City.
“We’re attacking them just like we did here on the prison streets,” he said. “Reducing drugs in prisons and getting people treated and helped is a big focus for us.”
Additionally, they restructured their efforts. Until Red’s arrival, the Bureau of Law Enforcement was separate from AP&P personnel, who operated as a special unit, and separate from the security threat group known as STG operatives within the prison. All these groups previously reported to different departments. Red says, “We now have them all under the control of the Law Enforcement Bureau, so we have intelligence officers at the prison, community agents reporting to the Law Enforcement Bureau, and the Law Enforcement Bureau. They all work together to share information within and outside the community. ”
Redd said he is also consulting with the U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Attorney’s Office and other local and state drug task forces to share information. He says, “We believe that sharing intelligence is a game-changer.”
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