Houston woman gets 4 years, tried to smuggle drugs to inmate

BEAUMONT, TX -- A Houston woman must serve more than four years in prison for trying to smuggle heroin into a federal penitentiary.

Janet Tapia was sentenced Thursday in Beaumont. Tapia in April pleaded guilty to attempting to provide heroin to an inmate.

Authorities monitored inmate calls and emails at the Federal Correctional Complex in Beaumont.

Investigators say Sultan Adnan Al-Bizri of Lubbock arranged for Tapia to deliver drugs to him. The heroin was confiscated from Tapia during a 2012 visit.

Al-Bizri in 2010 was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and sentenced to 10 years. He pleaded guilty in March to attempting to obtain a prohibited object and received an additional 55 months in prison.

Three other inmates were also convicted and sentenced to more prison time.