On August 20th, a prisoner at a federal prison, along with two others, has been charged with conspiring to mail drugs to a prison in California. The head of mail services at the prison tragically passed away earlier this month after opening a letter containing fentanyl and other substances.
According to reports from the Associated Press, prosecutors stated that a prisoner at the Atwater federal prison in California conspired with two individuals outside the prison to have them mail drugs to him, intended for selling within the prison. Investigators revealed that these drugs were disguised as “legitimate mail” from a law firm.
Based on testimony provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), on August 9th, the prison’s mail services head, Marc Fischer, began feeling ill after opening a letter addressed to the prisoner, containing multiple pages of paper that seemed to have been “soaked” or coated with drugs.
Testimony disclosed that within five minutes, Fischer started feeling unsteady on his feet and sought medical assistance. He was subsequently taken to the hospital and passed away two hours later. Currently, the cause of Fischer’s death is pending toxicology reports for confirmation.
Research indicates that brief exposure to fentanyl poses a low risk of drug overdose reactions.
In 2019, in an effort to combat the smuggling of synthetic narcotics, the Federal Bureau of Prisons began photocopying inmates’ mail and other correspondence in select federal correctional facilities across the United States, instead of directly delivering the original copies.
In 2023, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a bill requiring the Federal Bureau of Prisons to devise a strategy to intercept fentanyl and other synthetic drugs being sent to federal prisons nationwide through mail. However, this bill has become deadlocked in the House of Representatives.