The U.S. Department of Justice seal. (Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
PLANO, Texas – A Little Elm man was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to what federal prosecutors describe as a conspiracy involving drones used to drop methamphetamine and cellphones at a Texas prison.
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Texas prison drone drug smuggling operation
What we know:
33-year-old Tyler Joseph Gatten, also known as “Chains”, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Texas, U.S. District Judge Sean D. Jordan sentenced him to 300 months in federal prison on Oct. 28.
Prosecutors said Gatten led a drug-trafficking conspiracy that used drones to smuggle kilogram quantities of meth and cellphones into Texas Department of Criminal Justice facilities. The contraband was allegedly resold to inmates by members of a white supremacist gang.
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While Gatten was being held before trial, he was indicted in a separate drug conspiracy case involving inmates and correctional officers accused of smuggling cellphones and synthetic drugs into federal holding facilities.
Task Force targets prison contraband
That scheme involved mailing drug-soaked paper to the facilities disguised as legal mail, according to prosecutors.
What they’re saying:
The case was investigated as part of the Homeland Security Task Force, an initiative established under Executive Order 14159, titled “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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