Windsor Woman Admits Providing Smuggled Narcotics to Inmate at Pennsylvania Prison

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that SAMANTHA ELLIS, 34, of Windsor, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford to providing contraband to an inmate at a federal prison in Pennsylvania.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Tyshawn McDade was serving a term of incarceration at the U.S. Penitentiary in Allenwood, Pennsylvania (USP Allenwood).  On November 12, 2022, Ellis smuggled a small blue balloon containing approximately 20 packaged strips of Suboxone Sublingual Film, which is a Schedule III controlled substance and narcotic, into USP Allenwood’s visiting room and provided the contraband to McDade.  McDade then swallowed the balloon.  A corrections officer noticed what occurred and immediately ended the visit, and the exchange was captured on video.

On September 28, 2023, a federal grand jury in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, returned an indictment charging McDade and Ellis with the offense.  The case against Ellis was subsequently transferred from the Middle District of Pennsylvania to the District of Connecticut for further prosecution.

Judge Nagala scheduled sentencing for September 3, at which time Ellis faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.  She is released on a $10,000 bond pending sentencing.

As to McDade, an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean P. Mahard of the District of Connecticut and Geoffrey W. MacArthur of the Middle District of Pennsylvania.