MARC JACOBS
Hutch Post
WICHITA, Kan. — A federal judge has sentenced an inmate to more than six years in prison for helping coordinate an attempt to smuggle nearly 250 grams of methamphetamine into Hutchinson Correctional Facility.
Senior U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren sentenced Tommie Baggett to 78 months in federal prison during a Sept. 10 hearing. The sentence will be served consecutively to sentences Baggett is serving in three Riley County cases and one Geary County case.
Baggett pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
According to his plea agreement, Baggett was incarcerated at Hutchinson Correctional Facility on Feb. 18, 2024, when he worked with others to have a package of drugs thrown over the prison wall.
Baggett admitted that another inmate used a ball to mark where the package should be dropped. Baggett was speaking by phone with co-defendant Jermel Fleming, who was driving around the prison’s perimeter, and directed Fleming to the location.
Prison employees intercepted the package before the drugs entered the facility. Testing by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation determined that the package contained 247.94 grams of pure methamphetamine.
Baggett admitted that he knew the package contained controlled substances and that the drugs were intended for distribution inside the prison.
A federal grand jury initially charged Baggett with conspiracy and attempted possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Fleming and Tsehay Thomas were also named in the October 2024 superseding indictment.
Under the plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to dismiss the remaining charge against Baggett. The parties also agreed that Baggett would not request a sentence of less than 108 months and prosecutors would not seek more than 135 months. Both sides recommended that the federal sentence run concurrently with his existing state sentences.
The court was not bound by those recommendations and instead imposed a 78-month sentence to run consecutively to the state sentences.
After completing his prison term, Baggett will serve five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment. No fine or restitution was imposed.
The court recommended that the Federal Bureau of Prisons place Baggett at a facility offering college courses and other educational programs.