Suspects Charged for Allegedly Attempting to Fly Cell Phones into Virginia Prison Using Drone

Authorities have arrested two men for allegedly using a drone in an attempt to fly cell phones into a Virginia prison.

The Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office says at roughly 11:30 p.m. on November 15, authorities at the Lawrenceville Correctional Center were alerted to the incident and deployed deputies, bloodhounds, and additional law enforcement to secure the area, per WAVY.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, the alleged suspects, Hakeem Jamal Berry, 24, and Kendall Jamal Shaw, 31, were located in a wooded area close to the correctional center and had two backpacks with a drone, and three packages holding 11 cell phones, WAVY reports.

Brunswick County Sheriff Brian Roberts told CBS 6 he estimates the bags were carrying “about $22,000 in product.”

In September, a drone package that towed marijuana, cell phones, tobacco, and a USB-C to lightning convertor, missed its presumed target of the Lawrenceville Correctional Center and landed at a Brunswick County School, authorities said according to WTVR.

“Based on our investigation, it is obviously apparent that the package was intended to be dropped at the adjacent property of the Lawrenceville Correctional Center which is operated by a private company named The GEO Group,” Sheriff Roberts told WTVR at the time. “We have had numerous calls for service at the prison this year to include other drone sightings alleging the same criminal activity.”

The incident prompted additional surveillance efforts to find who was behind the alleged drop-off.

“We’ve put up a lot of cameras in the area,” Roberts told CBS 6. 

“We’ve had hundreds of hours of surveillance since the September incident,” he added. 

He informed the outlet that his office has the evidence to prove Berry and Shaw have been behind multiple attempted contraband drop-offs to the prison. 

“The suspects matched the description of persons previously identified and suspected of delivering contraband into the correctional facility,” Roberts told WTVR. “A search of the area was conducted, our bloodhound K9 deployed, and two subjects were located in the woods and detained.”

Both Shaw and Berry have been taken into Meherrin River Regional Jail and have been charged with attempting to deliver contraband to inmates, according to WAVY.