CONVICTED MAN CAUGHT WITH DRUGS IN JAIL CELL

Hours after a man was sentenced to 2 years in prison for a drug
charge, it was discovered that he carried 30 bags of heroin and
marijuana into the jail, Suffolk sheriff's officials said yesterday.

Bruce Maldonado, 33, of 201 Powell Ave., Central Islip, was taken to
the jail in Riverhead on Monday, where he was to remain before being
transported to a prison upstate, said Steven Wilutis, the Miller
Place attorney who represented him when he pleaded guilty to
attempted third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.

About 10 p.m., correction officers struggled briefly with Maldonado
in his cell after the sheriff's office received a tip from outside
the jail that Maldonado had carried contraband into the jail in his
rectum, Chief of Staff Alan Otto said.

Maldonado was about to flush the drugs down the toilet when the
officers recovered the bags, Otto said. Maldonado, who Otto said has
a criminal record involving drugs dating to 1989, was charged with
second-degree promoting prison contraband and third-degree criminal
possession of a controlled substance.

Wilutis said he hadn't yet heard of the new charges and doesn't know
whether he'll be hired to represent him again. "This is horrible news
for him," Wilutis said. "He's been drug-dependent for many years."

It was not known how the drugs entered Maldonado's body, but if a bag
had ruptured it could have killed him, Otto said. "He has a history
of selling drugs," Otto said. "In jail, it's very valuable."

Otto said the estimated street value of the drugs is less than
$1,000. It was unclear whether Maldonado intended to use the drugs
himself or sell them, Otto said.