By David Hurst
The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — An Arizona man who is already serving life in prison as a kingpin in a Mexico -to- U.S. drug-smuggling ring was sentenced Wednesday to an additional 33 months behind bars for racketeering inside Cambria County Prison.
For several months in 2023, Marcos Monarrez Jr ., 27, bribed correctional officers and medical staff to smuggle cellphones and the synthetic drug K2 into Cambria County Prison. The contraband items were then sold to other inmates for a “substantial profit,” federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Monarrez allegedly ran the organization inside the prison’s walls, directing people outside the prison to send and receive money that was used to pay for the smuggled contraband, a press release from U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti’s office says.
In a 2025 indictment, investigators said two prison employees, a now-former nurse and a former corrections officer, smuggled contraband to Monarrez and his associates by bringing it in lunch bags and small containers.
U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan, of Pittsburgh, imposed Monarrez’ sentence, which is consecutive to his life term.
That means if he were to successfully appeal his life sentence in the Mexico -to- U.S. drug operation case, he would remain in a federal prison to serve his latest sentence, which is set at 33 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
Convicted co-conspirators Blake Young, 37, and Mikal Davis, 48, were sentenced this summer. Davis received two additional years in prison, while Young was ordered to serve an additional 57 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
Four other defendants are still awaiting sentencing for their alleged roles in the Cambria County Prison scheme.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Maureen Sheehan-Balchon is prosecuting the case.
Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force, the Cambria County District Attorney’s Office and the Cambria County Prison all assisted federal prosecutors in the case against Monarrez, Rivetti said.
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