By Greta Stuckey
syracuse.com
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A Central New York corrections officer remains in the ICU on a ventilator after being exposed to an unknown substance at Mohawk Correctional Facility in Rome.
The officer was initially listed in critical condition but is now stable, though still intubated, according to Bryan Hluska, the Central Region vice president for the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association.
The female officer has worked at the prison for just over a year, Hluska said in an interview Tuesday with Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.
Around noon Sunday, troopers were called to the facility after a report that a visitor had brought in “suspicious materials,” according to a State Police news release. The substance was saturated on papers that were brought into the prison, they said.
The paper, which was inside an envelope, had been cut into small pieces and had a waxy appearance, Hluska said. He added that in recent cases, inmates have soaked or sprayed paper with substances and then rolled the pieces into cigarettes to smoke.
When the envelope was opened, officers and a nearby National Guardsman began experiencing symptoms including headaches, dizziness, difficulty breathing and vomiting, Hluska said.
Three officers were taken to a hospital, troopers said. Two National Guard members were also evaluated and later cleared.
Officers don’t typically wear gloves or protective gear when working with visitors, Hluska said. It’s more common to wear gloves in the package room, he added.
“The difficult challenge of preventing contraband, and the resulting violence and danger it brings to everyone in correctional facilities is constant,” the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said in a statement.
An initial assessment of the substance was inconclusive, troopers said. The material will undergo further lab testing.
Hluska said identifying such substances can be difficult because “designer drugs” are often chemically altered to evade standard drug tests. Prisons have seen an increase in overdoses recently because the drugs are often highly potent, Hluska said.
“Smuggling techniques are getting more sophisticated by the day, and the flood of potent drugs into these environments has become a deadly crisis,” Hluska said.
Troopers said an unidentified individual directed Shondrea C. Taylor, 53, to enter the prison under the pretense of visiting an inmate and deliver the envelope containing the treated paper.
Taylor was charged with two counts of second-degree promoting prison contraband, a misdemeanor, for bringing the material into the facility.
Oneida County District Attorney Todd C. Carville said he could not comment on the charges or details of the case because the investigation is ongoing.
©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit syracuse.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.