NO SHORTAGE OF WOULD-BE DRUG SMUGGLERS IN ST. LOUIS PRISONS

Smuggling marijuana into the prisons by way of a waste paper basket in
the visitor's restroom may seem like a good idea at the time, but
would be smugglers might want to come up with a Plan B.

Waste baskets in the visitor's restroom is the first place police
check.

The arrest of [name1 redacted], 30, of Detroit, was helped along by the
phone conversation she had had previous to the drop with one of the
inmates at the St. Louis Correctional Facility.

The phone conversations are recorded.

"Although they talked in code, (officials) believed a drop would be
made that day," said Gratiot County Prosecutor Keith Kushion.

So the visitors bathroom was checked before [name1 redacted] entered and
immediately after she left.

The taped condom full of marijuana was found inside a bag inside the
wastebasket on July 30.

The plan depended upon an inmate porter to pick up the marijuana and
deliver it to the inmate, Kushion said.

After pleading guilty to attempted furnishing of contraband to an
inmate, [name1 redacted] was sentenced Monday to two years probation and ordered
to serve 60 days in jail, Kushion said.

Since there is no shortage of those willing to try smuggling
contraband into the prisons in St. Louis, [name1 redacted] case wasn't the only
one in Circuit Court Monday.

Latisha Calloway, 30, of Detroit, pleaded guilty to attempting to
furnish contraband to an inmate at the Central Michigan Correctional
Facility on Sept. 4.

While visiting with her boyfriend, she purchased a bag of Cheetos in
the visitor's room.

Hidden in her bra were six condoms, three filled with marijuana and
three filled with tobacco.

She attempted to put the condoms into the Cheetos bag, when she was
spotted by a corrections officer.

"They do this all the time too - potato chip bags, Cheetos, whatever,"
Kushion said.

Calloway is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 14.

Attempted smuggling of contraband into a prison carries a maximum
penalty of 2.5 years in prison, Kushion said.