8 Charged As Part of Conspiracy to Smuggle Drugs, Cell Phones into Woodbourne Prison

Sullivan County District Attorney Brian Conaty announced the unsealing of an indictment charging several individuals, including a former Woodbourne correction officer, with conspiring to introduce prison contraband and controlled substances into the Woodbourne Correctional Facility.

Conaty called the operation a “highly calculated and orchestrated conspiracy” at a press conference in Monticello on Friday.

The Sullivan County Grand Jury charged four individuals as part of the indictment, including Kyle Raven, a former correction officer at Woodbourne Correctional Facility; Andrew Stoughtenger, an incarcerated individual; Amy Preston Stoughtenger, wife of Andrew Stoughtenger; and Dylan Coats, an incarcerated individual.

According to Conaty, the four individuals led a meticulous operation to smuggle methamphetamine and cell phones into the correctional facility.

The investigation revealed that Raven allegedly used his intel and public trust as a correction officer to help Andrew and Amy Stoughtenger to introduce and distribute the prison contraband and drugs. He allegedly received about $17,000 in cash payments and CashApp funds from the Stoughtengers for his assistance.

“Both methamphetamine and cell phones are dangerous contrabands inside the prison walls as they are capable of such use that may endanger the safety and security of the detention facility itself or any person therein,” said Conaty.

Four other incarcerated individuals – Riddell Heard, Leo Lazaro, Kenneth Thomas, and Derek Gallo, were also charged with counts of promoting prison contraband related to the operation.

According to Conaty, Amy Stoughtenger allegedly used her company, Freedom Foods, as a vendor to the New York State Department of Corrections to facilitate payments from incarcerated individuals as part of the operation.

The indictments includes several charges, including Bribe Receiving in the Second Degree, Promoting Prison Contraband in the First Degree, Rewarding Official Misconduct in the Second Degree, Money Laundering, among other charges.

The incidents took place between March 16, 2025 to June 25, 2025, according to a press advisory from the Office of the Sullivan County District Attorney – which overlaps with both the wildcat correction officer prison strike and hospitalizations of several prison workers at Woodbourne from an unknown chemical substance.

Conaty said the unsealed indictments do not directly connect to any of the chemical substance hospitalizations, though it’s “highly likely” there is a connection.

“ The indictment does not allege that, but I know I’ve met with a bunch of the people that were on strike. I’ve heard from individuals that unfortunately did overdose due to acute fentanyl exposure that was in the air, and I feel terrible for those individuals for simply just trying to do their job in a safe environment,” said Conaty.

Thousands of correction officers joined an unofficial statewide strike in February 2025 pushing back against unsafe working conditions and the HALT Act, which limits solitary confinement use. More than 2,000 state correction officers were later terminated after participating in the wildcat prison strike and failing to return to work.

The strike came after several correction officers in Woodbourne Correctional Facility were hospitalized after alleged exposure to unknown substances that caused nausea and vomiting.

READ: 2,000 Officers Terminated as NY Prison Strike Exposes ‘Hell on Earth’ Conditions

Staffers at other correctional facilities across the state also reported hospitalizations due to an unknown substance, including more than a dozen employees from Fishkill Correctional Facility in Dutchess County hospitalized in September 2025.

The joint investigation was conducted by the Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office, the New York State Police, and the DOCCS Office of Special Investigations.

Woodbourne Correctional Facility is a medium security men’s prison in Sullivan County and operated by New York state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

Image: Sullivan County District Attorney Brian Conaty at a press conference in Monticello on July 10, 2026 (Photo Credit: Kimberly Izar)