Attorney Charged With Providing Contraband to an Inmate at FDC Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA – Acting United States Attorney Nelson S.T. Thayer, Jr., announced that Paul DiMaio, 56, of Turnersville, New Jersey, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with one count of providing contraband to a prison inmate and aiding and abetting.

The criminal complaint alleges that on February 4, 2025, at 10:53 a.m., FDC surveillance video recorded the defendant, a practicing criminal defense attorney, entering the Federal Detention Center Philadelphia (FDC) with two “redweld” type folders. DiMaio then completed and signed a Bureau of Prisons form that warns against bringing prohibited objects, including drugs, intoxicants, telephones, and electronic devices, into the FDC.

As alleged in the complaint, FDC surveillance video shows that DiMaio carried the two folders into a legal visitation room, where he met with an inmate, who is not one of his clients, for 18 minutes. Further, FDC surveillance video shows that, following this meeting, DiMaio left the room with just one folder.

In addition, FDC surveillance video shows that the inmate did not carry any redweld folder into the meeting with DiMaio. However, the complaint alleges that, after the meeting between DiMaio and the inmate, FDC personnel observed the inmate carrying a redweld folder, stopped him, and searched the folder, which was found to contain a Motorola cell phone, a charging cord, 83 strips of suboxone, and 240 loose cigarettes. Suboxone is a Schedule III controlled substance.

Tanya Culver, 55, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was also arrested and charged by criminal complaint with one count of providing contraband to a prison inmate and aiding and abetting. The complaint alleges that Culver, the mother of a different inmate, took part in acquiring contraband, communicated with DiMaio, and traveled with him to the FDC on February 4.

If convicted, the defendants each face a sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael R. Miller.

An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.