Windsor Woman Pleads Guilty To Smuggling Drugs To Inmate: Feds

WINDSOR/HARTFORD, CT — A Windsor woman pleaded guilty Monday in federal court for smuggling in narcotics to an inmate at a federal prison in Pennsylvania who then swallowed them in a balloon.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, said Samantha Ellis, 34, of Windsor, pleaded guilty Monday before U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford to providing contraband to the inmate.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Tyshawn McDade was serving a term of incarceration at the U.S. Penitentiary in Allenwood, Pa.

On Nov. 12, 2022, Ellis smuggled a small blue balloon containing approximately 20 packaged strips of Suboxone Sublingual Film, which is a Schedule III controlled substance and narcotic, into the prison's visiting room and provided the contraband to McDade, Avery said.

McDade then swallowed the balloon, she said.

According to federal authorities, a corrections officer noticed what occurred and immediately ended the visit and the exchange was captured on video.

On Sept. 28, 2023, a federal grand jury in Williamsport, Pa, indicted McDade and Ellis with the offense.

The case against Ellis was subsequently transferred from the Middle District of Pennsylvania to the District of Connecticut for further prosecution.

Nagala scheduled sentencing for Sept. 3, at which time Ellis faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. She was released on $10,000 bond pending sentencing.

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