Tacoma man to spend 52 months in jail for smuggling drugs to inmates who overdosed
Mar 31, 2025, 6:54 PM
Federal Detention Center in SeaTac. (Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
A 37-year-old man from Tacoma has been sentenced to 52 months in prison after smuggling balloons filled with drugs into the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac (FDC-SEATAC).
David A. McKean appeared at a supervised release hearing at the U.S. District Courthouse in Tacoma with fentanyl and heroin on his person, in September 2023, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller in a press release. He was ordered to be detained during that hearing, and “at some point” before being admitted to prison, McKean swallowed the balloons of drugs to distribute them to other inmates in his unit.
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U.S. District Judge John H. Chun said McKean’s conduct is “a serious offense,” noting that two inmates who received drugs from him nearly died from fentanyl overdoses.
After these incidents, Bureau of Prisons (BOP) staff searched McKean’s cell and found heroin, fentanyl, suboxone, and other contraband.
Chun said it is “critical that deadly drugs be kept out of penal institutions.”
In addition to pleading guilty to providing contraband in prison, McKean’s sentencing was also based on 28 admitted supervised release violations.
