SALT LAKE CITY — A man on parole who attempted to use a drone to deliver drugs to an inmate at the Utah State Prison is now behind bars at the very same prison after his arrest.
Search warrants unsealed Wednesday showed how investigators were tipped to the alleged scheme that ended with the drone being lost.
Alfred Folau and inmate Joshua Baer were accused of coordinating the drone drug drop through phone calls using coded language that started in December, one month after Folau had been released from prison on drug-related crimes.
On February 4, video surveillance showed Folau arriving just south of the prison in Salt Lake City and removing a drone from his vehicle. As the drone was being launched, an item was observed attached to the bottom, "consistent with contraband," court documents stated.
Hours later, during a recorded conversation between Folau and Baer, who were previously incarcerated together in the prison, the two talked about the drone having lost connectivity and disappearing near prison property. The men were heard discussing the best time to return to find the drone, and using coded language that allegedly referenced narcotics still in Folau's possession.
After search warrants were obtained for Folau's home, truck and phone, investigators discovered over 150 packages of Suboxone, along with drone-related material, including an owner's manual for a GPS-enabled drone.
Data from Folau's electronic devices placed him near the prison at the time of the alleged incident, and appeared to show how he had previously researched drones capable of long-distance flights and payload delivery without detection.
The unsealed warrants claimed both Folau and Baer had previously worked on a similar drone scheme in 2022.
Folau and Baer now face charges of Distribution of a Controlled Substance and Criminal Conspiracy.
