Matthew Ford

An Eau Claire man, charged with several instances of attempting to smuggle contraband into the Butler County Prison, was sentenced to state prison in Butler County Court on Thursday.

Matthew N. Ford, 30, was sentenced to 3 to 6 years in a state correctional facility by county Judge William Shaffer, after entering guilty pleas in four cases on May 3. He pleaded guilty to three felony counts of contraband in three separate cases and misdemeanor driving under the influence, fifth overall offense.

Ford also was ordered to pay a $500 fine.

The contraband cases stem from incidents on Aug. 8, Dec. 28 and Jan. 3.

In the August incident, he was charged with possession of smuggled prescription drugs, tobacco, lighters and a razor blade, after he was caught hiding rubber gloves while he worked on the laundry detail, according to court documents.

During a shakedown search of the facility, Ford came forward and handed over a black sock to one of the officers, which contained the rubber gloves and nine full Suboxone strips and one half-strip, chewing and smoking tobacco, two round purple pills and two lighters, one with a razor blade taped to it, according to the criminal complaint.

The December incident alleged that Ford attempted to smuggle Suboxone into the facility in mail disguised as legal correspondence. The plan was foiled after officials discovered the scheme while listening to jail phone calls.

The letter arrived purportedly sent to him Dec. 28 by a Pittsburgh attorney but when the attorney was contacted he said Ford was not a client, nor had he sent any mail there.

On Jan. 4, investigators opened the envelope that contained several pages describing the county's drug court. A closer inspection turned up 15 Suboxone strips in between pages that had been glued together.

Ford's girlfriend, Jamie L. Uber, also was charged in that incident.

In the final contraband case, on Jan. 3, 2017, both were charged again with the same plot. Instead of sending the letter to Ford, however, police said Uber sent the mail to inmate Scott W. Braden, with the return address of a different Pittsburgh attorney, who said Braden was not a client and that he never sent any mail to him or to the prison.

During the investigation police said Braden admitted that he knew Ford was receiving Suboxone through the mail from Uber for 10 months, and had been selling it inside the facility. He admitted to paying $300 for the items being smuggled into the facility.

The DUI charge stems from a 2015 incident in Venango Township when police attempted to pull his vehicle over after seeing it run a stop sign. Ford led police on a six-mile, high-speed chase that ended at his home on Gibson Street.

Ford has been jailed since Feb. 4, 2016, when he was booked for a parole violation stemming from a prior burglary conviction.