Man convicted of shipping drug-filled books to inmates will join them in prison, feds say

A Phoenix man tricked bookstores into mailing books containing hidden narcotics to inmates in federal prisons, prosecutors reported.

The 54-year-old man will serve 51 months in prison for providing contraband to federal inmates, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Arizona said in a Jan. 13 news release.

He conspired with inmates at several prisons to mail books to them containing hidden Suboxone strips between February 2023 and April 2024, prosecutors said.

Suboxone is a narcotic often used to treat opioid addiction, Drugs.com said.

The man used unwitting bookstores to ship the books to subvert prison security by making it seem as if inmates purchased them directly, prosecutors said.

Investigators identified him through his communications with inmates after two of the shipments were intercepted, prosecutors said.

The packages were traced to Phoenix bookstores where the man had left his name and phone number, prosecutors said.

He also was convicted of violating his supervised release conditions for a previous bank robbery conviction, prosecutors said.

This story was originally published January 13, 2025 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Man convicted of shipping drug-filled books to inmates will join them in prison, feds say."