An inmate who concocted a plot to smuggle 200 Suboxone strips into the State Correctional Institution at Smithfield, Huntingdon County, has failed to convince a state appeals court that his two- to four-year sentence for the offense was excessive.

A three-judge Superior Court panel late last week found that Senior Judge Stewart L. Kurtz of Huntingdon County had not abused his discretion when sentencing inmate Keenan Young, 31, to an additional state prison sentence for his failed plot.

Young, through Huntingdon attorney Christopher B. Wencker, admitted he had a drug problem and that he had initiated a plan to smuggle Suboxone into the prison.

But he also pointed out since the incident in January 2020, he has taken steps to address his drug addiction problem.

The defense also argued that no harm resulted from his actions.

The Superior Court in its nine-page opinion by Judges Mary Jane Bowes, Megan King and Correale Stevens reported that state prison authorities monitoring inmate telephone calls become aware that Young had asked a woman who visited him regularly at the prison to bring him 200 strips of Suboxone, a drug normally used to treat opioid addiction.

Prison officials sought a search warrant and visited the woman at her home.

The woman admitted that she was acquiring Suboxone for Young, but, according to the Superior Court, authorities were able to find only 26 foil packets of Suboxone.

On April 9, 2021, Young entered an open plea to a charge of conspiracy to possess contraband and the criminal use of a communication facility.

State records show the woman was not charged in the plot.

Kurtz sentenced Young to consecutive sentences of two to four years on the conspiracy charge and one to two years for the criminal use of a communication facility for a total of three to six years.

The judge also recommended Young become part of the Department of Corrections drug treatment program.

Young balked at the sentence, so Kurtz on Oct. 26, 2021, reduced his overall sentence for the offenses, making them concurrent, meaning they would run at the same time, thus two to four years.

But the amended sentence was made to run consecutive to Young’s six- to 12-year sentence he was already serving.

This meant that Young will not begin serving his new sentence until he completes the sentence he received on April 27, 2018, for a robbery committed in Philadelphia County.