Guilty Plea in Drone Delivery of Drugs, Porn to Prison

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SILVER SPRING, MD — A Silver Spring father of two accused of helping to use a drone to fly drugs and pornography into a Maryland prison has pleaded guilty to lesser charges.

Keith B. Russell, 30, of Silver Spring, faced more than 30 criminal charges, including felony firearm and drug offenses, for the prison contraband plot. Instead, he pleaded guilty Thursday to three misdemeanor charges involving tobacco, rolling papers and a cellphone reports WTOP.

Prosecutors dropped the other charges against Russell, with both sides agreeing he had a minor role in the operation. The state will recommend a 10-year prison term at Russell’s sentencing.

Maryland authorities said in August they thwarted what is believed to be the first attempt in the state to use a drone to sneak contraband items into Western Correctional Institution in Cumberland.

Russell and Thaddeus Shortz, 25, of Knoxville, MD, were taken into custody on property adjacent to the prison. Authorities say the suspects had a drone, contraband items, and a handgun in the vehicle.

Last month, a jury convicted Shortz on all but four charges, WTOP reports. Shortz faces up 51 years in prison for 17 contraband convictions.

Shortz argued in court without success that investigators illegally searched the pickup truck in which police found the remote-controlled drone, along with packages of prescription narcotics, synthetic marijuana, tobacco and pornographic videos, NBC Washington reported.

Prosecutor Erich Bean said that Shortz, who had served time at the prison previously, discussed the conspiracy with inmate Charles Brooks. Those talks were recorded, prosecutors said, and the men reportedly called the planned drone operation “a gold mine,” WTOP reports.

Bean said the men dropped contraband near the back door of a housing unit reserved for prisoners who trained service dogs. Brooks was free to go in and out to walk the dogs, so he picked up the contraband.

The men planned to deliver drugs and CDs with porn to prison inmates using the drone, according to prosecutors. The vehicle’s owner had been under surveillance for some time because officers with the prison and the Department of Corrections suspected the duo, and at least one inmate, of plotting to use the unmanned drone to drop contraband at the prison.

The synthetic drug K2, or “spice,” was found in the suspects’ vehicle, along with tobacco and CDs containing pornography, authorities said. Drugs entering the prison threaten the safety of inmates as well as prison staffers, Moyer said.

Department of Corrections employees are investigating what can be done to prevent drones from flying into prison areas, spokesman Gerard Fields said.

»Photo of unmanned drone and contraband confiscated by authorities, courtesy of Maryland Public Safety and Correctional Services