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May 29, 2023

Four charged in narcotics smuggling from Falls warehouse to inmate

WAUKESHA — Orders of potato chips from an inmate in Stanley Correctional Institution led authorities to the discovery of drug smuggling from a warehouse in Menomonee Falls in September 2022. Four

WAUKESHA — Orders of potato chips from an inmate in Stanley Correctional Institution led authorities to the discovery of drug smuggling from a warehouse in Menomonee Falls in September 2022. Four people have been charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court.

An arrest warrant was issued for Larry Porter, 35, who was charged on Aug. 17 with manufacture/deliver schedule I, II narcotics and manufacture/deliver non-narcotics. If convicted, he faces 21 years in prison.

An arrest warrant was issued for Beonca D. Smith, 35, who was charged with manufacture/deliver schedule I, II narcotics and manufacture/ deliver non-narcotics and deliver illegal articles to inmate. If convicted she faces 24 years in prison.

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Carlos R. Ortiz Maldonado, 61, was charged with manufacture/ deliver schedule I, II narcotics, manufacture/deliver non-narcotics and deliver illegal articles to inmate.

He faces 24 years in prison if convicted. A $,5000 cash bond was set for him on Wednesday. The court found probable cause to bind him over for trial. He pleaded not guilty. Maldonado’s attorney requested a substitution for a new judge. Once the case has been reassigned, the parties will receive notice of the next date. A Spanish interpreter is needed at the next hearing, according to online court documents.

Gavion D. Whitaker, 27, was charged with manufacture/deliver schedule I, II narcotics and manufacture/ deliver non-narcotics. If convicted, he faces 21 years in prison. On Wednesday, the court found probable cause to bind him over for trial. He pleaded not guilty. A $50,000 cash bond was set on Aug. 17. An attorney for Whitaker asked for a substitution for judge during Wednesday’s court proceedings.

On September 14, 2022, officers with the Waukesha Drug Tasks Force and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Drug Gang Task Force were assigned to investigate allegations of drug smuggling into the Stanley Correctional Institution in Stanley. One of the officers received an incident report from Menomonee Falls Police Department as well as Department of Corrections internal investigations.

The DOC received inmate communications that Stanley Correctional inmate Whitaker was receiving between 100200 suboxone strips through his canteen orders, according to the criminal complaint. The complaint said an inmate informant claimed the stripes were coming through Whitaker’s canteen’s order in plain potato chip bags.

The DOC began reviewing his prior canteen order history as well as phone calls both in and out of the correctional institution. A company in Menomonee Falls packaged the orders and on Thursday the canteen orders were delivered to Stanley for distribution, the complaint said.

Through a review of Whitaker’s phone calls, it was discovered he was familiar with Carlos R Ortiz Maldonado, who worked at a Menomonee Falls warehouse where the canteens were shipped. Phone calls revealed Whitaker calling Beonca D. Smith, who was a girlfriend of his cellmate Larry Porter.

The conversations related to the timing of canteen packaging and delivery. Also, later Porter and Smith discussed qualities and pricing. Towards the end of the conversation, Porter instructed Smith to "get the dude the money" and "get the rest of them."

On Sept. 7, 2022, the Menomonee Falls warehouse canteen order arrived at the Stanley Correctional Institution. DOC personnel went through the orders and found one for Whitaker. There were five bags of chips; two of the bags appeared to have been altered. Investigators found 99 strips of suspected suboxone, six green pills of suspected oxycodone among other pills. The suspected strips tested positive for buprenorphine, the complaint said.

On Sept. 9, 2022, contact was made with Witness A, an employee at the Menomonee Falls warehouse. The person reviewed surveillance of Ortiz Maldonado working his shift on Sept. 6, 2022. This was packaging and shipping day for the inmate canteen delivery at Stanley. A video showed at one point Ortiz Maldonado left the building and went to his car. He returned carrying a black package, which he stored at his work station. Later he is seen carrying two bags of potato chips from the same area of his workstation as the black package. He can be seen exchanging the two bags of chips he brought in from his car with the two bags of chips in a canteen order he had personally pulled and set to the side. A review of scanning records from the warehouse show Ortiz Maldonado had scanned Whitaker’s canteen’s package on Sept. 6, the complaint said. During a phone conversation Whitaker had stated, "he ordered all these bags of chips and doesn’t even eat chips," the complaint said.

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