A contraband crisis is unfolding behind bars at Fla. Dept. of Corrections facilities
By Zak Dahlheimer, Chasity Maynard, Sabrina Fuller and Sam Thomas
Updated: 15 hours ago
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - Officials with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have called it, “the deadliest drug threat facing our country.”
WCTV has shared many stories of families, locally and spanning nationwide, being impacted by fentanyl.
The synthetic opioid can be used medically to treat patients with severe pain after surgery. It is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the DEA.
WCTV Investigates is shedding light on how fentanyl is showing up in Florida’s state prison facilities.
For seven months, our team has been looking through contraband data from the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) and reaching out to state lawmakers and prison officials.
This investigation started with an email from a woman whose loved one served time at a panhandle prison.
“It was really heartbreaking for us.”
Tawana Williams has fond memories of her former partner, Joseph Speights II.
“He had a very high IQ [and was] very smart,” Williams said.
Both Speights and Williams had a son together, named Joseph Speights III.
“He was a good father. He’d give you the best advice,” Williams said. “He was a person who knew who he was. He knew what he wanted. He also knew that he had his demons like everybody else.”
In 2001, Speights received multiple life sentences for armed burglary and kidnapping crimes in Broward County, according to Florida state prison records.
Speights went on to serve more than two decades within the state prison system. Most recently, he was at Liberty Correctional Institution in Liberty County, about an hour’s drive west of Tallahassee.
“I feel like, yes, he should’ve served for what he did. We’re not saying he shouldn’t. Because, when you do something, you have to pay the piper,” Williams said.
She told WCTV Investigates that Speights’ time behind bars took a toll on their son.
“My son has not been able to see his father in the flesh,” Williams said. “He’s talked to him. He’s written him letters.”
But, in August 2023, she and her son’s lives forever changed.
Williams told WCTV Investigates Speights was found dead at Liberty CI.
The Florida Dept. of Corrections confirmed Speights’ death, labeled as an “accident” in online prison records.
“My son doesn’t even want to talk about it. He holds a lot of stuff inside, and I know that it is bothering him,” Williams said. “It was really heartbreaking for us, because my son never really got to touch Joseph.”
That heartbreak evolved into questions for Williams when she got Speights’ autopsy report.
“They just said that they didn’t feel there was any trauma in his body,” she said. “They said his body was in perfect order [and] perfect shape.”
Williams provided WCTV Investigates a copy of the report which lists Speights’ cause of death as “multiple drug toxicity,” with a contributing substance being fentanyl.
This update led to more questions for Williams about how fentanyl ended up in Speights’ body while behind bars, and frustration towards state prison officials.
“How are they getting it in? They’re not climbing out at night, going to the disco, and getting it and bringing it back. Somebody is bringing it in,” Williams said. “They should take accountability for what happened.”
Manner of deaths reported at Florida prisons
After Williams reached out to WCTV Investigates, our team sent FDC officials public records requests asking how many other inmates have died behind bars with controlled substances in their system.
The department responded, saying that information is “confidential,” but provided a link to their inmate mortality data going back to 2018.
FDC data from 2018 through present shows the vast majority of inmate deaths over this time frame has been those labeled as “natural,” followed by those, like Speights, marked as “accident,” and then “suicide” followed by “homicide.”
The third-highest number of deaths in this data is labeled as cases which are “pending.”
When looking specifically at Liberty Correctional Institution, the numbers at that facility alone show, since 2018, the number of deaths marked as “accident” and “pending” combined is the same as the number of deaths for those marked as “natural.”
FDC officials have not clarified to WCTV Investigates exactly what causes of death are included under the label of “accident.”
Drugs found at Florida prisons
WCTV Investigates also wanted to know how much fentanyl is showing up in FDC facilities.
In all but one of the department’s annual reports going back to the 2018-2019 fiscal year, FDC officials provide a recovered contraband chart, showing different items found at facilities around the Sunshine State, including illegal drugs.
Drugs like cocaine and those marked as “other” saw major spikes over time in these reports.
“Fentanyl/oxycodone” became its own category in the 2021-2022 annual report, with more than 3,200 grams found during that fiscal year.
That number nearly tripled to more than 9,000 grams, or roughly 19 pounds, in the following fiscal year for the 2022-2023 annual report.
Recent FDC annual reports also showed a rise in positive drug tests.
“It’s very shocking.”
As part of our investigation, WCTV Investigates reached out to Florida state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle about the issue of fentanyl found in state prison facilities.
Our team shared the data with Democratic State Senator Tina Polsky, representing Florida’s 30th district which includes parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties.
“You’re actually the first one to tell me about that, and it’s very shocking,” Polsky said to WCTV Investigates after hearing the data from FDC’s annual reports regarding fentanyl found at state prison facilities.
Polsky is one of many state lawmakers trying to curb illicit fentanyl in Florida.
In 2023, Polsky sponsored a bill that became law which de-criminalizes fentanyl testing strips in Florida.
After speaking with WCTV Investigates, she said the issue of fentanyl in state prisons is now on her radar.
“It’s very troubling to hear that there are illegal drugs being used in our state prison facilities,” Polsky said.
Spotting contraband and keeping prisons safe
Jim Baiardi serves as President of the State Correctional Officers Chapter of the Florida Police Benevolent Association (PBA).
“Fentanyl is a dangerous drug,” Baiardi said.
A 30-year veteran with FDC, Baiardi’s worked at several locations across the state and knows first-hand about contraband coming into prisons and being found. He believes it comes through several different ways.
“We see drones used,” Baiardi told WCTV Investigates. “We see it smuggled in by visitors into the facilities.”
WCTV Investigates also asked the data found in FDC’s recent annual reports about fentanyl recovered in state prison facilities.
“Part of a spike in those numbers could actually be the fact that they’re discovering it more. I know the department has done a lot more in training with staff and protective equipment for searching for it,” Baiardi said. “Everything from dogs, they do interventions, drug interventions, and contraband, they put special teams together to search for it. Based on all of this, I think the department, the officers and staff are doing the best they can.”
When asked, Baiardi said he couldn’t go into more specifics about the special equipment or training.
However, FDC’s 2022-2023 annual report states that fentanyl drug tests were given out to Community Corrections field offices to find fentanyl.
“Previous restrictions on the use of field tests resulted in limited detection. Now, CPOs (Correctional Probation Officers) can use test results to make informed decisions and take appropriate action,” the report said.
It also goes on to reveal that NARCAN and first aid kits were issued to all certified staff in Community Corrections.
“Staff now have the added security of necessary equipment to handle life-threatening situations while in the field,” the report said.
While Baiardi wouldn’t comment directly on Speights’ death, he believes fentanyl is not a Dept. of Corrections or state problem, but a national problem.
“Until we stop these bad drugs from coming into this country, until we stop people from moving it, selling it, and distributing it, there’s going to be more cases like this,” he said.
Moving forward
WCTV Investigates asked State Sen. Polsky if she believes the topic of illicit fentanyl being found in Florida state prisons would possibly be brought up during the next legislative session.
“I absolutely do. If I’m sitting on criminal justice with this information, I will certainly bring it to the chair’s attention, or leadership’s attention,” Polsky said. “We are responsible for them, and there shouldn’t be illegal drugs to begin with and illegal poisonous drugs laced with fentanyl are more tragic. I’d love to hear what the Department of Corrections is going to do about this.”
Polsky told WCTV Investigates she believes a good step could be a study for FDC to do on fentanyl being found in state prison facilities, and for the department to provide their recommendations to state lawmakers on how to curb the issue.
She added that she’s interested in talking with FDC leaders about these suggestions, and if there’s a role for the state legislature to play, that they’d look into the issue.
WCTV Investigates has reached out to FDC multiple times over the phone and through email to answer questions, either on camera or through written responses, about Speights and fentanyl in state prisons. FDC officials did not respond to WCTV Investigates by the story’s deadline.
As for Williams, she’ll continue to raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl poisoning to try and keep others from walking the same path as her and her son.
“My thing is it can be anybody,” she said. “It could be somebody they know. And everybody has somebody that loves them.”
WCTV Investigates is still waiting to hear back from the Florida Department of Corrections about our interview request and answers to our questions.
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