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SA pen pal to US prisoners sentenced to a year in jail in the States for smuggling drug-soaked papers to inmates

SA pen pal to US prisoners sentenced to a year in jail in the States for smuggling drug-soaked papers to inmates
Tanya Baird. (Photo: Twitter)
Caryn Dolley
By Caryn Dolley
16 Dec 2022
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The tables have turned for a South African woman who used to write to inmates in the US – she herself is now set to spend a year in an American jail for sending legal documents saturated with drugs from this country to prisoners there.

In what appears to be her last video posted to TikTok before she was arrested in the US, Tanya Baird added a message about finally being in America, with hashtags including “#prisonwifelife” and “#writeaprisoner”. 

Those hashtags now bear much more meaning: on Tuesday, 13 December, Baird, who is from South Africa, was sentenced to a year plus a day in jail in the US.

A statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio, issued the same day, said she was jailed “for mailing large amounts of K2 and Suboxone via mail into the United States”. 

“Inmates in Ohio jails were the end recipients of the packages.”

Baird is now, ironically, a prisoner in Ohio.

‘Securing a place in prison’


“This office will not tolerate anyone sending controlled substances into jails or prisons in our District, no matter the method,” US Attorney Kenneth Parker said in reaction to her sentencing.

“Such conduct will earn individuals their own place in prison, as highlighted by Baird’s sentencing today.”

Daily Maverick previously reported on Baird and explained that K2, a synthetic cannabinoid, was also known by other names including Spice.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) described it as: “A synthetic version of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, K2/Spice is a mixture of plant material sprayed with synthetic psychoactive chemicals.”

Suboxone is a brand-name prescription drug used to treat opioid withdrawal.

Baird (46) was arrested at an airport in Ohio in March after arriving from South Africa.

Guilty plea


Baird entered into a plea agreement with the US in June.

The plea said Baird “admits that she is, in fact, guilty of this offence and will so advise the Court”.

A statement of facts in the case detailed how investigations in the US eventually led to her arrest.

It said the DEA, the US Border Patrol and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections started investigating an effective trafficking syndicate in October 2018.

The syndicate had been smuggling “falsified legal documents that had been saturated with a liquid form of synthetic cannabinoid… into jails and prisons within the Southern District of Ohio and elsewhere for illicit sale and use by inmates.”



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The statement of facts said Baird would receive telephone requests for K2 from inmates who her fiancé, identified as James H Johnson, had directed to contact her.

It was understood the K2 was sourced from China, and Baird, in South Africa, would saturate documents with it.

69 ‘drug parcels’ sent from South Africa


“Baird would receive payment for the K2/Spice and postage via PayPal, Western Union, MoneyGram, CashApp, Cash, Bitcoin and other money services,” the statement of facts said.

It added that Baird, using an address in Randpark Ridge, Johannesburg, sent about 69 packages of “fraudulent legal paperwork” believed to be saturated with the drug.

Tanya Baird. (Photo: Twitter)



In the statement issued on Tuesday, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio said that in June 2021, Baird posted about eight packages – each containing 30 pieces of saturated paper – to an inmate in an Ohio prison.

Read in Daily Maverick: “Tik and cocaine worth billions found in consignments of apples, pears and oranges exported from SA to India”

“Another individual sometimes received packages from Baird containing legal privileged documents that were saturated in K2.

“The individual would then send the legal documents into Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction facilities and collect proceeds from inmates. 

“The proceeds were then sent to Baird via CashApp or PayPal.”

TikTok trail


Baird’s TikTok account makes several references to prison.

A post from May 2021 shows she was receiving items from an inmate.

“Gifts my amazing man has sent me from prison ♡♡ #prisontiktok #prisonwife #inmateswife #prisonwifelife #inmate,” it said.

An accompanying video showed jewellery including a ring, necklace and teddy bear in a T-shirt saying “Ohio State”.

Another post from 2021 said she missed the US and hoped “to get back real soon”.

The final post on Baird’s account said he had arrived in the US – it was presumably shortly after this that she was arrested. DM

Caryn Dolley has spent years tracing the footprints of kingpins from across the world. In her latest book, Clash of the Cartels, she provides unprecedented insight into how specific drug cartels and syndicates have operated via South Africa, becoming embroiled in deadly violence in the country and bolstering local criminal networks. Available from the Daily Maverick Shop.

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