Drone Used To Deliver Contraband To McDowell Prison

A Pennsylvania man will be sentenced in July for his part in a scheme to deliver contraband to West Virginia prison inmates using a drone. 

Thirty-three-year-old Gamalier Rivera pled guilty in federal court on Thursday to aiding and abetting the delivery of cellphones, tobacco and marijuana to inmates at the minimum and medium security federal men’s prison in McDowell. 

Court documents and statements in court indicate that on Feb. 9, 2024, corrections officers detected a drone flying over the facility.

Its flight took it from a fence to a housing unit where a search led them to multiple cell phones, tobacco and marijuana. 

Tracing the flight path they found the defendant and two other men, from North Carolina and Florida, along with the drone, controller and materials similar to those found in the cell. 

Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston said the guilty plea, “is the result of the vigilance and dedication of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and the excellent coordination and teamwork between BOP, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office.”

The remaining men and three others from Chicago, have also been indicted in a separate case. Rivera admitted he expected to be paid for his participation in the scheme.

He faces up to five years in prison.