{"id":1921,"date":"2026-06-23T22:09:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T22:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1921"},"modified":"2026-06-23T22:09:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T22:09:01","slug":"colorado-federal-prison-employee-accused-of-smuggling-cellphones-vapes-into-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1921","title":{"rendered":"Colorado federal prison employee accused of smuggling cellphones, vapes into facility"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div><strong>Getting your Trinity Audio player ready&#8230;<\/strong><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>A federal prison lieutenant is set to stand trial in August in a smuggling scheme where he allegedly accepted bribes to sneak contraband into a southern Colorado prison facility, according to federal court records.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1919\">Federal officials plan to offload some warehouses purchased for immigrant detention<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Michael Popma, a special investigative service lieutenant at the Federal Correctional Complex in Florence, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy, bribery, providing contraband in prison and unlawful interception of oral communication, according to a copy of the indictment filed June 2 in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.<\/p>\n<p>The correctional complex comprises several federal prison facilities, including USP Florence ADMAX, a maximum-security prison often referred to as the Alcatraz of the Rockies. Popma supervised staff and oversaw the \u201cinvestigation, mitigation, and elimination of all illicit (Bureau of Prisons) inmate activities\u201d at the Federal Correctional Institution of Florence, the complex\u2019s medium-security prison.<\/p>\n<p>Staff at the medium-security facility also manage the Federal Prison Camp, Florence\u2019s low-security facility, according to the indictment.<\/p>\n<p>Popma \u2014 described in the indictment as a \u201cpublic official in a high-level decision-making and sensitive role\u201d \u2014 allegedly \u201cused his position to act in violation of his lawful duty by conspiring to smuggle contraband into (the Florence prison) in exchange for payments from inmates and their associates,\u201d the indictment stated.<\/p>\n<p>Between Sept. 12, 2024, and Dec. 13, 2024, Popma accepted roughly $15,500 and six bottles of alcohol from an inmate\u2019s family member to smuggle 123 cell phones, 415 electronic nicotine vaporizers and 274 bottles of alcohol into the prison, the indictment alleges.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1917\">Woman killed in Monday morning crash, 2 others injured in west Greeley<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Popma was hired at the Florence prison complex in November 2014 as a correctional officer and was promoted to lieutenant in August 2021, Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Scott Taylor said in an email to The Denver Post. As of Tuesday, Popma was still employed as a lieutenant.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBased on the need to ensure safety and security in our institutions and in accordance with privacy concerns, we do not discuss potential allegations of staff misconduct or comment on matters that are the subject of legal proceedings,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cHowever, we generally can tell you that the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) takes our duty seriously to protect the individuals entrusted to our custody as well as maintain the safety of correctional staff and the community.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Bureau cannot confirm or deny \u201cwhether a specific employee is currently on administrative leave or otherwise disciplined,\u201d Taylor said. Officials also cannot confirm \u201cthe existence of a corresponding investigation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>If convicted on all four charges, Popma would face up to 26 years in prison, up to $1 million in fines or a combination of the two, according to the indictment. The man\u2019s case is set to go to trial on Aug. 10, according to court records.<\/p>\n<p>Attorneys for Popma and the U.S. Department of Justice did not respond on Tuesday to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1915\">Colorado wildfires: New fire forces evacuations on Colorado\u2019s Western Slope<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.<\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michael Popma was indicted on charges of conspiracy, bribery, providing contraband in prison and unlawful interception of oral communication for bringing contraband like vapes and alcohol to the Federal Correctional Complex in Florence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-courts","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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