Seven Charged With Possessing Contraband in Seagoville Prison

In an effort to combat contraband in federal prisons, the U.S. Attorney's Office has charged seven men with possessing of various prohibited items while behind bars.

"The Northern District of Texas will not tolerate contraband inside federal prisons, period," said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton. "Inmates who handle drugs, phones, or child sexual abuse material risk having significant time tacked onto their sentences. The safety of prison guards, other inmates, and even those outside prison walls depends on our enforcement of these rules."

"I am very pleased to work with our law enforcement partners and provide evidence that contributed to these indictments," said Dr. Scarlet Grant, Warden of the Seagoville Federal Correctional Institution. "When cell phones and narcotics are introduced into a prison, it causes significant safety and security concerns to the employees and adults in custody. Deterring contraband remains a top priority of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and these indictments send a clear message that smuggling contraband into a prison is a federal offense and it will not be tolerated."

"Contraband largely serves to facilitate criminal acts in prison and poses real and potential danger to Federal Correctional Institute Seagoville personnel, other prisoners and to the community at large," said FBI Dallas Acting Special Agent in Charge James Godley. "We will continue to work with our federal partners to investigate contraband encounters."

Those charged in five separate indictments include:

• Isaac Martinez, charged with possessing contraband in prison (methamphetamine)

• Nicholas Evans, charged with possessing contraband in prison (buprenorphine) and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance

• Hugo Castaneda, charged with two counts of possession of a prohibited object (methamphetamine) and one count of possession with intent to contribute a controlled substance

• Abdullah El Hage, charged with possession of a prohibited object (methamphetamine)

• Matthew Rodriguez, charged with possession of a prohibited object (methamphetamine) and possessing contraband in prison (phone)

• Deaunte Lakeith Johunkin, charged with possession of contraband (K2) in prison and attempted possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance

• Richard King, charged with possession of child pornography (printed, black and white, sexually explicit photos of prepubescent girls)

All seven recently charged defendants are inmates at Federal Correctional Institute Seagoville, a low-security Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facility southeast of Dallas with a population of just under 1,800 male offenders.

According to BOP's policy, prison contraband includes items that could reasonably be expected to cause physical injury or adversely affect the security, safety, or good order of the institution.

An indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

If convicted, the inmates may have additional prison time tacked onto their sentences.

Earlier this year, two men were charged with attempting to smuggle cell phones and marijuana into the yard of a federal prison in Fort Worth via a mesh bag affixed to a drone. Prison staff found the mesh bag hanging from a parachute cord on the side of a building after being notified of a drone in their airspace.

Joseph Mora and Reza Ayari both pleaded guilty to attempt to provide contraband to a prisoner and were sentenced to 58 and 50 months, respectively, in federal prison. In Mora's case, the Court ordered his 58-month sentence to be served consecutive to any sentence imposed in his other federal case.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Dallas Field Office conducted the investigations with the cooperation of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Assistant U.S. Attorney Luis Suarez is prosecuting the Seagoville inmates' contraband cases and Assistant U.S. Attorney Levi Thomas prosecuted the Fort Worth drone case.