Former inmate says measures to crack down on drugs in Minnesota prisons aren't enough
MINNEAPOLIS — The number of drug incidents and hospitalizations at some Minnesota prisons has gone down because of new protocols to screen mail, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
Starting in June, staff at Stillwater, Rush City and Faribault correctional facilities began screening, scanning and reprinting mail after investigators discovered pieces of legal and personal mail stained and contaminated with synthetic narcotics.
Still, the recent two-day lockdown at Stillwater caused by an inmate smoking an unknown substance underscored the limits of the pilot program and the risks of persistent drug smuggling.
"Most of us are criminals and drugs are a part of everyday life of a criminal," Brad Rierson, who served time at Faribault Correctional Facility, told WCCO News. "There are multiple people getting high multiple times a day, and you're not going to be able to hide that in a mail system with one or two letters from your kids."
Rierson was convicted of pornography and solicitation charges. He was released in June.
"The amount of drugs that are coming in through the facility are not coming in through the mail," he said. "They're not coming in through visiting."
So far this year, the DOC says there have been about 70 cases of suspected overdoses in Minnesota prisons, with most leading to lockdowns that frustrate inmates and staff alike.
"That programming is probably the most important thing outside of visitors and phone calls that we have as inmates because that sets our day," Rierson said. "It was paramount for being inside just to keep us busy and out of boredom."
The Department of Corrections has stressed that its Office of Special Investigations will continue its investigation into the Stillwater incident, as well as crack down on drug smuggling.
Also this month, a former correctional officer at Faribault, 43-year-old Lindsey Adams of Farmington, was arrested and charged with third-degree possession of methamphetamine and introducing contraband into a state correctional facility, the Rice County Attorney's Office said.
According to prosecutors, authorities saw the inmate and guard making an exchange on live video.