SHERIFF WANTS PATROL TO PICK UP INMATE'S TAB

Sheriff Wants Patrol To Pay Inmate's Medical Tab

MEDINA - Cynthia Brown carried cocaine, cash and an unborn child.

When a state trooper stopped her rental car on Interstate 71 near Lodi last
April, the cocaine was Brown's problem.

Her pregnancy has become Medina County's, says Sheriff Neil F. Hassinger.

The bills for the Youngstown woman and her son, born Oct. 8, total more
than $11,000, not including overtime for deputies assigned to watch her
around the clock during a hospital stay.

"I don't think this is our county taxpayers' responsibility," said
Hassinger, who wants the State Highway Patrol to pay the doctor bills with
its share of $46,040 it seized from Brown.

The patrol has refused.

Hassinger said he believes it is morally and legally correct for the patrol
to reimburse Medina County for Brown's bills, including nearly $7,000 for
three days at Medina General Hospital.

Unless the patrol reconsiders, the sheriff said he may refuse to take
custody of pregnant prisoners.

In a letter to Hassinger, Col. Kenneth L. Morckel, superintendent of the
patrol, said he would like to pay Brown's medical bills, but the law does
not allow it.

Patrol spokesman, Sgt. Gary Lewis, said state law limits how forfeited drug
money can be split and spent. It can be used for law enforcement education,
equipment and specialized training. He said there is no provision to
reimburse a sheriff for prisoner expenses.

"We don't have the legal ability to do what the sheriff wants," Lewis said.

In 1999, prisoner medical bills cost Medina County $103,000. Through
October, jail bills totaled $133,000 and will probably exceed $150,000, the
amount Hassinger had budgeted.

Hassinger said the county pinches pennies where it can.

The jail's dentists can pull teeth or fill cavities but they are not
permitted to do caps or crowns, root canals or other expensive procedures.
It charges inmates $10 a doctor visit, $5 a prescription. But if a prisoner
has no money, the sheriff pays the bill.

"Once they're here, they're our responsibility," he said.

Hassinger said judges saved the county money by postponing jail sentences
for sick and infirm offenders. For instance, Medina Municipal Court Judge
Dale H. Chase once put off a sentence for a drunken driver scheduled to
have open-heart surgery.

Trooper Terry Helton arrested Brown, 41, after stopping her on I-71 because
she was tailgating a truck. He said he intended to issue a simple warning
but became suspicious when he saw 22 rubber-band wrapped bundles of cash on
the front seat of her rental car.

Helton's drug dog, Alex, pawed at the vehicle, prompting a search. The
trooper found nearly 1,000 grams of cocaine wrapped in "Hot Wheels"
birthday paper and hidden in the trunk.

Brown and her passenger, Jamaica Nealy, were charged with trafficking
cocaine after both refused a federal agent's request to deliver the drugs
while wearing a police radio monitor.

Brown and Nealy were convicted and sentenced to prison. Brown's son,
Terrell, was placed in foster care. The money was declared proceeds of
illegal drug trafficking and seized.

The patrol got the biggest chunk of the money, $32,153; the Drug Enforcment
Administration kept $9,208; and the Medina County prosecutor's office got
$4,593.