Two men admit to using drone to smuggle contraband into FCI McDowell

A pair of men admitted to their part in a scheme that air dropped contraband into a federal prison in McDowell County.

CHARLESTON Two men have pleaded guilty to helping smuggle contraband into the Federal Correctional Institution at McDowell using a drone.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia, 32-year-old Hector Luis Gomez DeJesus of Sanford, North Carolina, and 37-year-old Raymond Luis Saez Aviles of Poinciana, Florida, both entered guilty pleas on Tuesday to aiding and abetting the introduction of contraband into a federal prison.

According to federal prosecutors, correctional officers at the facility detected a drone flying over the prison on February 9. The drone traveled from the prison’s outer fence to a cell in one of the housing units. Officers searched the cell and found a broken window, as well as cell phones, tobacco, and marijuana.

The drone’s flight path led officers back to a launch site, where they found and arrested DeJesus, Aviles, and a third individual, 33-year-old Gamalier Rivera of Poinciana, Florida. Officers recovered the drone, its remote control and additional contraband matching what was found inside the prison.

DeJesus and Aviles admitted to participating in the operation and said they expected to be paid for flying marijuana, tobacco, and phones into the prison.

They are scheduled to be sentenced on August 11. Each faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

Rivera pleaded guilty to the same charge in March and is set to be sentenced on July seventh.

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