MIAMI (AP) — A former prison nurse has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for smuggling drugs and other contraband into a federal detention center in Miami.
Ruben Montanez-Mirabal, 33, was sentenced Wednesday in Miami federal court, according to court records. He pleaded guilty in March to conspiring to receive bribes and to introducing prohibited objects into a federal prison.
According to a criminal complaint, Montanez-Mirabal took illegal payments from FDC Miami inmates in exchange for bringing in and delivering to them prohibited objects, including sheets of paper soaked with synthetic cannabinoids, from November 2021 to August 2022. Montanez-Mirabal accepted thousands of dollars in bribes, as well as other items of value, including the free use of a Lamborghini and a Rolls-Royce, prosecutors said.
Over several months, Montanez-Mirabal smuggled more than 100 drug-soaked pages that he would deliver directly to inmates or hide some place where inmates could find later, investigators said. The inmates would sell the drugs for $1,500 per page, officials said.