Utah prison issues warning to visitors after 4 arrests: Leave your drugs at home
Mar 6, 2024, 3:34 PM | Updated: 3:37 pm
A woman visiting an inmate at the Utah State Prison was recently arrested after a hole was cut into the plexiglass separating her and the inmate she was visiting and drugs were alleged passed to him prison officials say. (Utah Department of Corrections)
(Utah Department of Corrections)
SALT LAKE CITY — Administrators with the Utah Department of Corrections are warning visitors not to bring drugs into their facilities.
The message comes on the heels of the arrests of four people in eight days who allegedly attempted to pass drugs to inmates at corrections facilities in the state, according to the Department of Corrections. At least three of those incidents were at the main Utah State Prison in Salt Lake City, also known as the Utah State Correctional Facility.
One of those arrests included a brazen case of a small hole being cut in the plexiglass barrier separating visitors from inmates, and drugs were passed through the hole.
Diana Cruz-Rodriguez, 26, was arrested on March 2 for investigation of drug possession, damaging the prison and bringing prohibited items into the prison. On that day, Cruz-Rodriguez was visiting inmate Kevin Zamora. After her visit, officers searched the booth where she had met with Zamora and found “a hole in the glass of the barrier booth, that separated Diana and Zamora,” according to a police booking affidavit.
Cruz-Rodriguez was detained and questioned.
“Diana admitted to cutting the hole in the glass with her car keys and passing a piece of paper through the hole that contained 10 strips of an orange substance. Based on my experience, I know this substance to be Suboxone,” the arresting officer wrote in the affidavit. Suboxone is typically used to treat opioid addiction, but can also cause dependence if misused.
Please read Pat Reavy’s complete story at KSL.com.
