Eight indicted in prison smuggling case used drug counseling program to sneak in heroin, meth and pot
A federal grand jury indicted eight people on charges of smuggling drugs, cellphones and other contraband into Calipatria State Prison in Imperial County, federal authorities announced Tuesday.
One of the people indicted was a supervising drug counselor at the prison.
The counselor, Angela Carr, smuggled drugs including methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana into the prison on at least five occasions in 2015, and also brought in cellphones for inmates, said U.S Atty. Laura Duffy.
Carr was arrested in August 2015 trying to smuggle in a pound of methamphetamine, four pounds of marijuana, a quarter-pound of heroin, a collection of prescription drugs and 39 cellphones, prosecutors said.
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Four current and former inmates at the prison were also indicted, along with three women Duffy said were romantically involved with inmates at the prison. One of the inmates served as a “drug counseling mentor” to other inmates in the drug rehabilitation recovery program that Carr supervised, authorities said.
Duffy said that the participants in the scheme essentially used the prison’s drug counseling program to smuggle drugs into the sprawling facility.
Carr would meet with the three women in parking lots outside of bowling alleys or big-box stores in the Riverside County city of Moreno Valley and the high desert city of Lancaster, court records state. The women would supply the drugs and contraband, which were hidden inside bags of chips, oatmeal boxes, cookies and cans of coffee.
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Carr, 44, received a total of $3,500 for her efforts, Duffy said. She estimated the “prison value” of the cellphones and drugs — the amount the items could fetch inside — at $1.2 million.
The prison houses 3,600 inmates, all male, and is located near the Salton Sea, just north of Brawley.
Moran writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
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