Woman pleads guilty to selling and mailing drug-soaked papers
A New York woman has pleaded guilty after being charged with manufacturing synthetic cannabinoids and sending drug-soaked documents to inmates in multiple correctional facilities, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
Maya McIntosh, 33, manufactured, distributed and possessed with intent to distribute a synthetic cannabinoid called MDMB-4en-PINACA, officials from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York said in a news release. McIntosh ordered the chemicals to make the synthetic drug and had them shipped to her home, according to court documents, which said she then made a liquid form of MDMB-4en-PINACA.
That liquid was then sprayed and soaked into copy paper and business envelopes, according to prosecutors and court documents. McIntosh allegedly sold the sheets and envelopes on social media, and was paid by customers to send them to inmates at various New York State correctional facilities. Prosecutors say McIntosh labeled the envelopes as if they had come from attorneys.
The recipients of the drug-soaked papers and envelopes would not have been able to feel the drug's effects through the paper, said Dr. Andrew Stolbach, a toxicologist and emergency medicine physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. MDMB-4en-PINACA does not pass through skin, he said, and synthetic cannabinoids in general tend to be made of large molecules, making them unable to easily pass through the skin or spontaneously enter the air.
"This is why people who use these drugs smoke them, the literal heat from a flame is used to bring the drug into an absorbable state," Stolbach told CBS News. "If the drugs worked by skin absorption or spontaneous volatilization, people would just touch the drug or open the package to experience them."
McIntosh pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including conspiracies to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and unlawful possession and use of a means of identification, the Department of Justice said.
McIntosh faces a maximum term of up to 20 years' imprisonment on each count, and a maximum fine of $1 million on the drug counts, as well as a fine of $250,000 on the other counts. She faces a supervised release of at least three years and up to life, the Justice Department said.
Multiple similar cases of drug-soaked papers being delivered to prisons have been reported. In August 2024, a Chicago corrections officer was accused of trying to bring such materials into the Cook County Jail. In 2022, a South African woman was charged with orchestrating a scheme to smuggle dozens of packages containing drug-soaked papers into Ohio prisons and sentenced to one year in prison.
Sneak peek: The Puzzling Death of Susann Sills
Inside Trump's call with Vladimir Putin
100 years since deadliest tornado in U.S. history
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Man, 38, accused of spiking pregnant girlfriend's drink with abortion drug
A 38-year-old man is facing capital murder and tampering with evidence charges in connection with accusations he terminated his girlfriend's pregnancy without her consent or knowledge, investigators announced earlier this week. The alleged incident, according to a news release from the Parker County Sheriff's Department in Texas, an area about 35 miles west of Fort Worth, occurred in October 2024. An unidentified woman who was reportedly dating the suspect, identified as Justin Anthony Banta, a Texas resident and employee of the United States Department of Justice, told sheriff's investigators that she'd informed the 38-year-old that she was pregnant in September 2024. Banta, according to the woman, told her he would cover the cost of an abortion and suggested they order the abortion-inducing medication Plan C online. 'The victim informed Banta of her desire to keep the baby,' investigators said. On Oct. 17, 2024, at approximately six weeks pregnant, the woman received a sonogram from her doctor who reported a healthy pregnancy with strong vital signs and heartbeat. Later the same day, Banta met the woman at a coffee shop where the victim believes he 'added abortion-inducing pills to her drink without her knowledge or permission.' The following day, the victim reported exhaustion and bleeding so heavy that she went to the emergency room. On Oct. 19, according to sheriff's investigators, the woman lost the pregnancy. During an investigation, the 38-year-old's cellphone was confiscated as evidence. Sheriff's investigators believe that Banta, who works in the DOJ's IT department, remotely accessed the device and performed a reset, 'thereby deleting crucial evidence related to the case.' On June 6, authorities arrested Banta for tampering with physical evidence and a charge from the Texas Rangers for capital murder. The 38-year-old later posted $500,000 bail and was released. The federal IT worker, who is separated from his wife, NBC News reported, and his lawyer are denying the allegations, saying Banta only met the alleged victim four times. U.S. Marshal wrongly detained by ICE agents in lobby of federal building Michael Heiskell, Banta's attorney, told the outlet that his client has cooperated with investigators since last fall when his relationship with the woman ended and that, so far, law enforcement has shown Banta no evidence that the woman was in fact pregnant. 'There were discussions about her being pregnant, but that was never confirmed by her to him. And yes, he did research Plan C,' Heiskell told NBC News, while adding that his client did not put the drug into the woman's drink. The Parker County Sheriff's Department expressed its gratitude to the owners and staff of the coffee shop for their cooperation with the investigation, though they did not say if there was potential video evidence linked to the case. Nearly all abortions are banned in Texas, and abortion-inducing medication cannot be accessed through doctors or pharmacists in the state. Residents can, however, get the drugs through online providers. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Pennsylvania men accused in scheme that swiped $80M in U.S. Treasury checks
(WHTM) — Four Pennsylvania men are facing charges in connection with the theft of over $80 million in U.S. Treasury checks. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced Wednesday charges against four men from the Philadelphia area: Tauheed Tucker, 23, and Saahir Irby, 27, both of Philadelphia; Cory Scott, 25, of Ardmore; and Alexander Telewoda, 25, of Clifton Heights. The men are facing felony conspiracy to steal government funds, theft of government funds, and mail theft charges. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Irby and Tucker were working as mail processing clerks for the U.S. Postal Service between June 2023 and Sept. 2024. They are accused of intercepting and swiping thousands of envelopes containing U.S. Treasury checks from mail sorting machines at the USPS Philadelphia processing center. The men then allegedly sold them to Scott and Telewoda, who then resold the checks on Telegram. They were mailed to buyers across the country who attempted to cash them. In total, $80 million in checks were allegedly stolen, $11 million of which were cashed. Download the abc27 News+ app on your Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, and Apple TV devices If convicted, Irby faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison and the remaining men face up to 20 years. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
DC mother found guilty of murder for death of 16-month-old daughter
WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — A D.C. woman was found guilty of murder Wednesday in the death of her 16-month-old daughter in March 2017. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO) for the District of Columbia, 39-year-old Faneisha Scott was found guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree cruelty to children and second-degree cruelty to children. FCPD: Ex-Youth summer program leader charged with secretly recording minors Evidence stated that around 2:45 p.m. on March 21, 2017, Scott's friend- and her daughter Rhythm Fields' godmother- went to Scott's home in the 5400 block of C St. SE. The friend's 8-year-old child asked to play with Rhythm, but the friend found Rhythm in her playpen 'unresponsive and cold.' Scott went outside and flagged down a mail carrier, who called 911 and went back into Scott's apartment with her. The mail carrier saw 'Rhythm on the couch, lifeless. The child's body was cold, her body was stiff, and her eyes were fixed,' the USAO said. The mail carrier remained on the phone with 911 until two others entered to give Rhythm CPR. The USAO said that one of these individuals was an experienced former firefighter who immediately recognized that Rhythm was dead. Scott told first responders that she hadn't had any contact with Rhythm since 9 a.m. 2 teens charged with 9 armed carjackings, robbery in DC; police search for more suspects The D.C. Medical Examiner's Office did an autopsy on Rhythm's body and ruled in February of 2018 that she had been killed and that her cause of death had been multiple blunt force injuries. The Medical Examiner's Office listed the following injuries: Contusions and abrasions of the head, neck, torso and extremities Subdural hemorrhage Cerebral edema, subarachnoid hemorrhage and acute hypoxia-ischemia Retinal and optic nerve sheath hemorrhage Twenty-three bilateral rib fractures, showing both healing and new fractures Scott's sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 29, 2025. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
