Thaddeus Shortz, 25, of Knoxville, was arrested in August outside the Western Correctional Institution in Maryland, where he was released in April. The authorities said they found a drone, and six packages of illicit contraband in his truck—worth about $35,000 in prison. An officer testified that the defendant, who faces decades in prison when sentenced later this month, admitted to using a drone to smuggle contraband into the prison about a half-dozen times before. A Maryland State police officer testified that the defendant got $4,000 a pop for each of his successful drops, and was "almost boastful about it."
A 12-member jury deliberated a little more than two hours before convicting Shortz after a two-day trial. The defendant did not put on a defense.
A co-defendant, who faces trial, was told in a telephone call by Shortz that the operation was a "gold mind," according to testimony.
Shortz had flown the remote-controlled drone, and its payload, over a 12-foot fence to inside the prison yard by a door in the back of a housing block for inmates learning to train dogs. Inmates walking dogs would retrieve the contraband. Inmates in the dog-training program are now supervised during their walks.
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