mahoning county Sheriff’s office probes recent increase in drug-laden jail mail

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office is investigating four recent cases of jail mail with opioid medication hidden inside, Sheriff Jerry Greene said Thursday.

According to sheriff’s office reports, one of the drug-laden letters sent to the jail since March 21 was addressed to inmate James Centafanti, 39, of Norquest Boulevard, who was jailed in September after getting tied up by homeowners during an alleged burglary.

Inside the letter was a blank legal motion with “a piece of tape with an orange substance underneath of the tape,” which turned out to be four strips of suspected Suboxone, used to treat opioid withdrawals, the report states.

That letter had an Avondale Avenue return address. Each of the last week’s letters’ return addresses and mailers was different.

Greene said it’s not unusual for the jail to receive drug-laden mail addressed to inmates, but the past week’s surge of incidents is.

He said he’s wondering whether the jail’s new body scanner – installed last year – is screening out so many drugs hidden on inmates’ bodies that others have resorted to smuggling drugs through the mail “as a last resort.”

Suboxone strips themselves are often as thin as a mail stamp and are “pretty easy to conceal” inside thick, double-sided birthday cards, he said.

Greene said investigators are tracing the drug mail back to the original senders.

“Trying to keep drugs out of a correctional facility is incredibly challenging. It’s an ongoing process,” he said. “I’m just glad we’re finding it.”