The mailroom supervisor at a federal prison in Atwater died Friday as a result of exposure to mail laced with an unknown substance. A second worker was also exposed and hospitalized but was released after observation.
Investigators are investigating whether the substance was fentanyl, the Associated Press reported.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, Kristie Breshears, director of communications, confirmed that an investigation was underway but declined to release details.
The prison, which is located in Merced County, has temporarily suspended visitation.
Atwater is a maximum-security federal prison for men. It also includes a minimum-security satellite camp. According to the prison's website, there are 1,225 inmates on its campus: 1,086 are in the prison and 139 are in the camp.
According to Breshears, Marc Fischer, the mailroom supervisor, “began to feel ill” after being exposed to a mail item. “Despite the quick response of local emergency medical services, the employee was tragically pronounced dead upon arrival at a local hospital.”
Researchers say briefly touching fentanyl cannot cause an overdose and the risk of death from accidental exposure is low.
Fischer's death comes as the Bureau of Prisons, which operates 122 federal prisons nationwide, is under scrutiny for a series of crises including sexual abuse and other criminal misconduct by staff, prisoner escapes and several high-profile deaths.
According to the Associated Press, in 2019, the bureau began photocopying mail arriving at prisons instead of delivering the original packages to inmates in an attempt to combat the smuggling of synthetic narcotics.
In 2023, legislation was introduced that would have required the agency director to develop a strategy to prevent fentanyl and other synthetic drugs from being mailed into federal prisons.
The bill is stalled in the House.
“We are deeply saddened and send our deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of our deceased employee,” Breshears said in the statement.
A call to the prison went unanswered.
