Metro

An investigation by the state Department of Corrections has broken up a scheme that allegedly used legal mail to smuggle illicit drugs into state prisons.

Dajah Monet Schoolfield, 29, and Devin Walker, 34, both of Philadelphia, are accused of posing as lawyers and introducing contraband into state correctional institutions, the DOC said in a news release.

Walker, who was on parole at the time of his arrest, was arraigned Feb. 10 before Magisterial District Judge Rufus S. Brenneman in Huntingdon County. He faces 10 charges, including felony conspiracy counts of forgery, identity theft, contraband, unlawful use of a computer and possession with intent to deliver, along with misdemeanor charges related to tampering with records, forgery and false swearing.

His bail was set at $300,000 and he was remanded to the Huntingdon County Prison.

Schoolfield was arraigned Feb. 12 before Brenneman on 19 charges, including felony counts of forgery, identity theft, unlawful use of a computer and possession with intent to deliver, along with felony conspiracy counts and misdemeanor charges related to the case.

Schoolfield’s bail was set at $150,000 and he, too, was remanded to the Huntingdon County Prison.

Both Walker and Schoolfield are scheduled for preliminary hearings Feb. 25 in Central Court.

In announcing the arrests of the two men, the DOC revealed the investigation began May 6, 2024, when security staff at SCI Smithfield processed a parcel tagged as legal mail and addressed to an inmate.

Legal mail, also called privileged correspondence, requires a state Department of Corrections-issued Attorney Control Number as well as a secondary time code on the outside of the package. These ACNs are only issued to verified attorneys or court personnel, the DOC explained.

The May 6, 2024, parcel was sent certified mail with a tracking number from Philadelphia, but the return address was the Thompson Law Office in Sayre, the report states.

Security staff already suspected the mail’s recipient of drug smuggling inside the prison, the report states, noting that staff were expecting the package due to intelligence gathered prior to the parcel’s arrival.

The DOC used the information on the package to search through the Legal Mail Tracking system and discovered that seven parcels were sent by attorney John Thompson to various inmates at not only SCI Smithfield, but also SCI Coal Township, SCI Fayette, SCI Forest, SCI Dallas, SCI Huntingdon and SCI Mahanoy.

When questioned, the real attorney Thompson verified that he did not send legal mail to any inmate in a state correctional institute. He also told investigators that he did not request an ACN.

Investigators with the DOC’s Bureau of Investigations and Intelligence worked with facility security staff to determine that the inmate was working with Walker and Schoolfield to introduce contraband to state correctional institutions, according to the report.

The investigation found that Schoolfield, listed as a civilian, created a website purporting to represent Thompson in order to fraudulently obtain an ACN. Six of the seven packages sent under the bogus ACN were seized, and the paper inside was tested to reveal it had been saturated with synthetic cannabinoids.

Walker, court documents state, was linked to the scheme through telephone calls and letters with an inmate expecting the May 6, 2024, package. All communications between inmates and civilians are subject to recording and monitoring, the report explained.

Among the calls recorded was on where an inmate spoke with Walker, stating he “pushed that shit on Friday,” indicating that he had “16” orders, “pushing 4” at a time. Walker told the inmate the parcel would arrive by May 6, 2024.

Walker and Schoolfield were also linked through text messages, among other means, according to the report.

The Philadelphia Police Department assisted in the execution of search warrants on Schoolfield and Walker, court documents state. Those searches were undertaken in June 2024 and charges were filed against the two on Feb. 3 of this year.