Federal Prison Inmate Sentenced for Possession of Contraband

Donald S. Boyce, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that Wheeler J. Paavola, 35, of Spokane, Washington was sentenced to six months of imprisonment on March 20, 2017 for possession of a controlled substance inside the federal prison at Greenville, Illinois. Paavola’s six-month sentence will be served consecutively to his original 2011 sentence of 188 months for possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine.

At his change of plea hearing, Paavola admitted that he had possessed "K-2," a form of synthetic marijuana, on July 27, 2016 while he was an inmate at the federal prison in Greenville.

The investigation which resulted in Paavola’s arrest and conviction was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert L. Garrison.