GIRLFRIEND: INMATE NEEDED METHADONE MAILINGS

MANATEE -- A Bradenton mother of two told authorities she worried that
her boyfriend would get sick if she didn't get prescription drugs to
him in jail.

Now, Amanda B. Rogers, 29, is facing a felony charge of her own.
Detectives say she tried to mail methadone to Darrell Russell
McDonald, who faces charges of child neglect and abuse of her boys,
ages 11 and 13.

Detectives arrested McDonald on Nov. 29 on charges of burglary,
forgery and three counts of child neglect. He is accused of using
Rogers' children, and his 7-year-old daughter, to help him steal,
according to reports.

An Ellenton shopkeeper told sheriff's detectives McDonald distracted
her while the children ran through her store, and one stole her wallet
from her purse.

McDonald also has been charged with burglary and child abuse by the
Palmetto Police Department in a similar case, in which he is accused
of distracting a clerk while one of the children stole her wallet.

Sheriff's Detective Dawn Atkinson said Rogers has denied any knowledge
of the alleged crimes.

But sheriff's reports say even though Child Protective Services had
warned Rogers to "straighten things out in her life due to recent
investigations of neglect and abuse to her children," a deputy
arrested her Tuesday on a charge of driving with a suspended license.

By Wednesday, a detective at the jail had started to look closely at
some mail that had arrived for McDonald from Rogers, including letters
from his daughter.

Inside the envelopes were letters and more envelopes with stamps on
them, a common practice for inmates to send mail back to their loved
ones.

When the detective rubbed his finger over the stamps, he felt lumps.
He pulled the stamps off and found white powder that tested positive
as methadone, a commonly abused prescription drug.

Already in jail on the suspended license arrest, Rogers admitted to
sending the mailings "for Darrell because she was worried about him
being sick from not having methadone," a report states.

In addition to driving with a suspended license, Rogers was arrested
on a felony charge of introduction of contraband into a detention
facility. She was being held on $5,250 bond.

Atkinson said Rogers' children have been taken from her, with custody
given to their father in another county.