BOP Supervisor in Colorado Indicted for Smuggling Over 400 Vapes
On June 2, Michael Popma, a former employee with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP), was indicted by a federal grand jury for accepting bribes in exchange for smuggling cigarettes, vape pens and alcohol into the Federal Correctional Institution in Florence (FCI-Florence).
Popma, who was a supervisor at FCI-Florence, snuck in 123 cellphones, 415 nicotine vaporizers and 274 bottles of alcohol over the course of three months in late 2024, according to court documents obtained by CBS News. Popma worked as a lieutenant in the Special Investigative Service (SIS) unit at FCI-Florence at the time of his offenses. Within the SIS, a unit responsible for oversight and administration, Popma’s role included the “investigation, mitigation, and elimination of illicit BOP inmate activities.”
The indictment claims that Popma smuggled the contraband items at the behest of an unnamed prisoner and family member. As reported by the Cañon City Daily Record, the family member delivered contraband into the prison on multiple occasions and, after each trip, left a backpack containing between $2,000 and $3,000 in a drop location for Popma to retrieve. In one meeting with the family member, Popma accepted approximately $3,000 in cash that was provided by federal law enforcement. In total, Popma received roughly $15,500 in cash and six bottles of alcohol.
The ex-lieutenant now faces up to 26 years in federal prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. His charges include conspiracy, bribery by a public official, providing contraband in prison and unlawful interception of oral communications.
Sources: CBS News, Cañon City Daily Record
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