United States District Judge Thomas P. Barber sentenced Billy Boortz, a 43-year-old from Duval County, Texas, to five years in federal prison for possession of five grams or more of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, according to an announcement by United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe on July 23.
Court records show that on July 18, 2025, Boortz was an inmate at Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Sumter County, Florida. When corrections officers from the Federal Bureau of Prisons ordered him to submit to a search, Boortz attempted to assault the officers by throwing punches toward their heads and upper bodies. Officers were able to restrain Boortz and discovered over nine grams of methamphetamine hidden in his sock.
Boortz told law enforcement that he would have made approximately $20,000 if he had managed to sell the methamphetamine inside the facility.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Prisons. Assistant United States Attorneys Hannah Nowalk Watson and Sarah Janette Swartzberg prosecuted the case.
This prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America. The initiative brings together resources from the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhoods programs, with aims including eliminating cartels and transnational criminal organizations.