JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville defense attorney now faces multiple felony charges after police said he smuggled drugs known on the street as “paper dope” into the Duval County jail.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said Nathan Williams, the accused attorney, coordinated with inmates and inmate family members to smuggle sheets of purported legal paperwork.
Investigators said the drug was a synthetic marijuana which involved paper being dipped in a liquid version of the drug. They said it’s known as “K2″ or “Paper Dope.”
“He dishonored an honorable profession,” Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Undersheriff Shawn Coarsey said.
JSO said the bust was part of Operation Stamp Collection which is looking into how drugs find their way into jail.
“It’s called synthetic marijuana, and we need to be very clear about this. There is no marijuana in the synthetic marijuana. This is complete chemicals,” Mike McCormick with Florida Poison Control said.
He said papers get dipped in a liquid version of the drug and then can be smoked or even consumed.
McCormick described the drug as a volatile “chemistry experiment,” with unpredictable ingredients and effects.
He said that some users suffer from seizures, strokes and hallucinations.
“We’ve had fatalities in the state of Florida from it,” he added.
He said the struggle of treating this drug is that there is no way to know what chemicals were used. He even said there are some cases where rat poison was found in the drug.
The Sheriff’s Office said it arrested 20 others as part of this operation, but they do not believe the individuals were working together.
News4JAX also spoke with former JSO officer James Brown who previously worked in corrections.
“It’s pretty significant because not only do you have the results of an investigation that’s kind of fruition,” Brown said. “It also shows the weaknesses of the system and ways that they can modify and keep this from happening in the future.”