A Kingston man on his way to state prison for narcotics sales is facing more time after, police say, he checked into the Ulster County Jail with a stash of the synthetic drug “K2” secreted in his body. Peter Bonavita is charged with first-degree promoting prison contraband, a felony.

On Feb. 26, Bonavita settled two separate indictments by pleading guilty to two felony drug charges and a conspiracy charge related to his involvement in a drug ring that distributed narcotics inside the Ulster County Jail, the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office said. On June 13, Bonavita was in Ulster County Court where he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison on the drug charges and one to three years for conspiracy by visiting County Court Judge James Farrell.

Following sentencing Bonavita was remanded to Ulster County Jail. During the intake process, police said, corrections officers determined that he was, the DA’s Office stated, “in possession of unknown contraband concealed inside his body.” Bonavita was placed on a one-on-one watch for the next four days until officers were able to recover a quantity of the synthetic drug known as K2 or Spice with a street value in the thousands of dollars.

On June 26, Bonavita was arraigned on the contraband charge. He faces an additional three and a half to seven years in prison in addition to the previous sentences.

In recent years the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office has introduced a number of measures, including a medically assisted drug treatment program, to combat addiction among inmates at the county jail. In a statement announcing Bonavita’s indictment, Ulster County District Attorney Emmanuel Nneji said that Bonavita’s repeated involvement in bringing drugs into the jail undercut those efforts.

“This is an example of what law enforcement is up against in the efforts to reduce and prevent drug overdoses and deaths,” said Nneji. “For inmates struggling to achieve sobriety, Bonavita’s persistent conduct, alone and with others, over an extended period of time, makes it nigh impossible. As a community, we owe it to ourselves to remain vigilant and report drug conspiracies and activities to law enforcement.”