PRISON TEACHER ACCUSED OF SMUGGLING DRUGS FOR INMATES

Sheriff Says Marijuana Supply Ring Had Been Operating For Months

A teacher of remedial high school courses at Jackson Correctional
Institution has been charged with smuggling packages of marijuana into
prison to supply an inmate drug ring, officials announced Tuesday.

Sandra Peterson, 50, of Black River Falls, who taught basic reading, math
and science skills, was arrested April 18 following a monthlong undercover
investigation by the Jackson County Sheriff's Department.

The drug ring had been operating since December, authorities said.

Marlene L. Littlewolf, 36, also of Black Falls, who allegedly set up a post
office box to receive advance payments from inmates, was charged with
supplying drugs to the teacher.

Both women were taken into custody after members of the sheriff department's
drug unit observed Littlewolf deliver a package containing marijuana to
Peterson in a parking lot at a Burger King restaurant. Peterson was arrested
when she attempted to enter the medium security prison with the parcel
containing about an ounce of marijuana in her handbag.

When questioned by investigators, Peterson admitted bringing similar
packages into the prison on previous occasions but said she thought she was
delivering sage - an herb used for religious ceremonies by Indian inmates,
said Lt. Patrick LaBarbera, the sheriff's deputy who led the investigation.

Peterson, a teacher at the prison for three years, told authorities that an
inmate involved in the prison drug ring told her that "Indians didn't get
enough (sage) from the Jackson Correctional Institution chapel - and needed
more."

Peterson was charged with two counts of intent to deliver on the grounds of
a correctional facility and one count of possessing marijuana with intent to
deliver it. Littlewolf was charged with two counts of delivering marijuana
and one count of being a being a party to delivering marijuana.

If convicted of all charges, Peterson and Littlewolf could each be sentenced
to a maximum of nine years in prison. Peterson could be sentenced to an
additional 10 years for committing the crimes on the grounds a correctional
facility.

Both women were released from Jackson County Jail on $1,000 bail each.

More arrests and criminal charges involving inmates at the prison are
expected, LaBarbera said.

"We think we have stopped the main source of drugs coming into the prison,"
he said.

"This wasn't a one-time shot. It had been going on for quite a while."

Jackson Correctional Warden Phil Kingston said the investigation was
prompted when his staff noted an increase in the number of urine samples
from inmates that tested positive for drugs. About 5% of the prison
population is tested at random each week, he said.

Prison investigators then probed to get to the source of drug supply by
using "intelligence-gathering devices," which are routinely employed in
prison settings, he said.

"We wish it would never have happened," he said it a phone interview
Tuesday. "It's never a good sign when your staff members get arrested."

William J. Clausius, spokesman for the state Department of Corrections, said
prison employees are not routinely searched when they report to work unless
there is reason to suspect contraband is being brought into the facility.
However, he said, prison workers must pass through an X-ray machine that
"identifies shapes that may be unusual."

"Only a very small minority of employees have been involved" in smuggling
drugs in the prison system, he said.

According to the criminal complaint:

Peterson said Littlewolf delivered the first package of marijuana just
before or after Christmas at a drop in a ladies room at a McDonald's
restaurant in Black River Falls. The next delivery was at a Burger King.

After three more pick-ups, Peterson met directly with Littlewolf and paid
her $200 she had received from an inmate. Littlewolf then gave her two
packages saying one was "for her guy and one (was) for mine," Peterson told
authorities.

On another occasion Peterson said she paid $225 of her own money to
Littlewolf.

Peterson said she put the packages in a wastepaper basket at the prison and
the inmate picked them up, the complaint alleges.

Peterson said the drug deliveries started after she talked with the inmate
in November or December 1999.

Jackson County sheriff deputies observed the teacher receiving a tan-colored
package from Littlewolf on April 18 in a parking lot at the Burger King.
They had observed a similar transaction April 4 in a parking lot at a Kwik
Trip in Black River Falls.