Defense attorney says his name and address are being used to smuggle prison contraband
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Defense Attorney Jeremy Loew says he's had contraband sent to a prison in Colorado with his return address, bar number, and name on it. The catch: he had never touched the mail.
"It had everything that would pass as legal mail. But it wasn't from me," Loew said.
Loew says the Department of Corrections flagged the mail in this instance because the person it was addressed to was not listed as his client in their system. DOC confirmed that it's a common occurrence.
"It is not uncommon for individuals to attempt to send illicit substances into correctional facilities using falsified return addresses, including those of law offices. When this occurs, we reach out to verify authenticity and take appropriate security measures. We also take precautions while also safeguarding legitimate and protected correspondence between offenders and their attorneys," said a spokesperson from the DOC.
The scheme is rooted in the fact that prisoners have attorney-client privilege, and their mail is protected by that right. So, contraband gets sent in using an attorney's name in hopes it will be safe from a search.
Shawn Conti, a defense attorney in Pueblo, said something similar had happened to him. Instead of the letter being flagged by the DOC, it was returned to his address.
"It was obvious that it wasn't us because there was a typo [on the letter]," Conti said.
Conti wasn't sure what was in the letter but said someone had tried to impersonate him through legal mail.
"Unfortunately, drugs are going to make it into the prisons," Loew said. "And probably the easiest loophole there is through something like legal mail -- but lawyers still need to be able to communicate with their clients."
While having contraband or drugs in prison is a certain sentence extender, Loew explained that it's hard to trace who is sending these letters. It's also difficult for the District Attorney to file charges against the people receiving the letters since there is no proof that the person asked for the contraband in the first place.
"I mean, there's very few occasions where someone gets drugs in the mail and they don't know they're coming if we're being frank," Loew said. "But from a legal standpoint, if you're the defense attorney for that client who's in prison I would say this person was getting framed."
The only route the DOC has is through scanning phone calls for particular inmates, but he doubts they have the resources or time to do something like that. The DOC told KRDO13 they do their best to investigate the mail received.
"As part of our standard security measures, we use mail-screening equipment to detect narcotics and contraband. When a piece of mail raises concerns, particularly if it appears to be legal correspondence, we verify its origin with the sender. If narcotics are suspected, we conduct further testing."
- Department of Corrections
