OCALA, Fla. (CBS12) — A federal inmate already serving time found himself in even deeper legal trouble after being caught with a stash of nearly pure methamphetamine inside a Florida prison — and now faces up to life behind bars.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said Edwin Tollinchi-Rodriguez, 40, of Indiana, admitted to possessing over 236 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride, a substance determined to be 99% pure by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). He now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, with the possibility of life in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
The DOJ said the incident occurred on September 5, 2024, when a correctional officer at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Sumter County conducted a routine pat-down and discovered a wrapped package containing a white substance. Tollinchi-Rodriguez later told DEA agents he had been paid $500 to retrieve prohibited items from a prison shower and deliver them to another housing unit…