A Marianna man has pleaded guilty to possessing pot inside the local federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.
Bertram Williams, 50, tendered his plea to “introducing contraband into the Federal Detention Center (FDC) at Tallahassee,” a news release said.
After a visit by an unnamed person, Williams was searched by staff, who found “two cylinder-shaped plastic tubs that were in the cut fingertips of a latex glove” in his left boot, the release said.
“Inside one cylinder, staff discovered marijuana. In the second cylinder, staff discovered a rolled-up piece of paper saturated in a substance, which field tested positive for synthetic marijuana. The substances were also tested at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement laboratory, which confirmed the substance contained marijuana,” it added.
It wasn’t clear from available records what Williams was originally being held for or who gave him the drugs. He faces up to five years’ imprisonment and one year of supervised release on the contraband charge when he is sentenced on Jan. 8 before U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, court dockets show.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jessica Etherton and Eric W. Welch. Tallahassee attorney Randolph Murrell is representing Williams.
“The case involved a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” the release said.
Jim Rosica can be reached at jrosica@tallahassee.com and follow him on Twitter/X: @JimRosicaFL.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Inmate pleads to pot possession after prison visit in Tallahassee