Man sentenced for contraband smuggling in Monroe County prison

A Gulf Shores attorney has been sentenced for smuggling a paper soaked in synthetic drugs to an inmate at a Monroe County prison. 

According to an announcement from the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of Alabama, Michael Leonides Santos, 36, was arrested in February of 2022 after surveillance footage captured him handing a paper to a federal inmate during visitation. 

The inmate reportedly put it into his socks. Authorities later reviewed the footage and arrested Santos. They found that the paper was soaked in a substance known as "spice," which is a synthetic cannabinoid. 

Authorities also found a cell phone on Santos that linked him to smuggling with the inmate. 

"Between November 2021 and February 2022, the inmate also exchanged several monitored 'Chirp' text messages with Santos and others," said an online announcement from the district office. 

"In those messages, the inmate discussed smuggling spice into the jail, how to package the contraband and give it to Santos, and how much profit the inmate could make by distributing spice inside the jail. In a December 2021 message, the inmate asked Santos to visit the jail and offered assurances that 'they don’t look into that.'"

Santos was sentenced to four months in prison and will serve a one-year supervised release. He will have to pay a $200 fine and $25 in special assessments. 

He has also been banned from representing criminal defendants in any U.S. jurisdiction.