USP Thomson needs to screen all mail: union

A staff member at the federal prison in Thomson was taken to an area hospital after being exposed to narcotics last night. Jon Zumkehr, president of Local 4070, which represents staff at USP Thomson, spoke with Our Quad Cities News via Zoom to explain why the worker was exposed.

“We had a staff member get exposed to drugs last night and was given an emergency dose, lifesaving dose, of Narcan, and they were immediately transferred to the hospital, by ambulance,” Zumkehr said. “This is an issue that we’ve been saying from day one here, that the drugs coming in the mail. That’s an issue that we’ve made Congress aware of.”

The problem began when the Federal Bureau of Prisons stopped screening incoming mail, he said. “We actually had a program at the Federal Bureau of Prisons that scans all the mail coming in for drugs. But the Bureau of Prisons defunded that program, and this is why we’ve been fighting for the last three years to get this back on track. There’s a bill in Congress right now, HR5266 , it scans 100% of mail coming in. This is important to us, because right now we don’t scan the mail for drugs. This is why we’re having, across the Federal Bureau of Prisons, staff going to the hospital. We average at Thompson one inmate overdose a week here. This is the problem.”

Fortunately, the staff member will recover, said Zumkehr. “We reached out to the staffer this morning, and they’re having minor effects, but they’re back home. They were treated and released at the hospital and they’re back home.”

The situation isn’t unique to the Thomson facility; there have been fatal reactions to contaminated mail across the country. “We had a federal law enforcement officer at USP Atwater lose his life this month because of drug saturated mail,” Zumkehr said. “We need Congress to fully fund this program and to do it now before another law enforcement officer lose their life.” HR 5266 has been in the House Judiciary Committee since August 25, 2023.

“It’s a bipartisan bill. (Mariannette) Miller Meeks, Iowa District 1, Representative (Eric) Sorensen, Illinois 17, both have signed on this bill,” Zumkehr said. “There’s 117 co-sponsors on this bill right now, and it’s sitting in the House Judiciary Committee. We need them to move on this and to pass it. It’s a bipartisan bill. There’s no poison pills in this bill. It scans the mail 100% for drugs, and it sends the mail back to the institution. This is a simple fix, but it comes down to money, and the Congress does not want to fund it, just like our staffing.

“Congress does not want to fund our staffing. We currently, at Thompson, right now, have 115 vacant positions. It’s the highest at a standalone prison in the Federal Bureau of Prisons because they defunded the pay of Thompson, and we’re fighting for Congress for funding for that. So I mean it, it all comes down to money. And we’ve said from day one, staff should not have a price tag on their life.”

Providing more protection for workers, like thick gloves, isn’t going to solve the problem, Zumkehr said. “Back in 2022, a staff member was moving the mail. It was raining outside. A piece of mail was laced with multiple different drugs, and the rain contaminated every piece of mail in there. The staff, you know, in the unit had that, and they got sent along with four other staff at the hospital. So it starts off in the mail room, but then, the drugs can get transferred to different pieces of the mail.”

What’s even more alarming is how the contaminated mail gets to prisons in the first place. “This same piece of mail is going through the post office. It’s able to contaminate other pieces of the mail,” he said. “There are people sending drugs through the mail into the prison. It’s not just an isolated issue; it’s across the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and that’s why we’re bringing this issue forward. We need people to talk about it and we need Congress to do their job.”

The prison did implement a change last week, but it has nothing to do with the mail. “The other thing is we implemented, just last week, that staff will carry Narcan on them. Think about that. We have staff that have to carry Narcan on them, which we’re fully supportive of, because we have so many overdoses here at Thompson.”

There’s no way to tell what kind of drugs are in the mail, including extremely dangerous ones, Zumkehr said. “Nobody has a clue what these are laced with. We’ve had fentanyl in Thomson multiple times – documented, tested positive for fentanyl inside of Thompson.”

Zumkehr is working hard to get the legislation passed. “I’ve actually personally emailed every member of the Senate and every member of the House who have not signed onto this bill last week, trying to get them on this bill. It’s a common sense, bipartisan bill. There is no poison pill, except funding it. That’s what it comes down to, they don’t want to fund this bill. They don’t want to spend any money. And again, the same as our staffing. You know, we need to fund our staffing. We need to fund this mail bill. It’s a common sense approach. We need to fund this bill and get this bill across the finish line so we can have a safe prison for the staff and the inmates.”

Don Williams, the father of Eric Williams, the corrections officer who died at USP Atwater, released a stat e ment about his son’s death.

“With this problem again on the rise, Congressman (Don) Bacon has introduced HR 5266, The Interdiction of Fentanyl in Postal Mail in Federal Prisons, with it being cosponsored by Congressman (Matt) Cartwright. SO WHERE IS IT? The bill was introduced. The bill was sent to the Judiciary Committee, the bill has gathered approximately 117 cosponsors from both sides of the aisle. But it just sits in committee. Stuck. Why? Because despite the efforts of the congressmen who got this bill introduced, the two political parties are fighting over money to fund it.”

“My son died because Mission Critical reduced staff to save money,” the statement continued. “Now this officer is dead while they quibble over money. We need to let our voices be heard and join Congressmen Bacon and Cartwright and demand this bill be passed. This kind of tragic incident cannot happen again. It is unacceptable.”

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