HOLY SMOKE! MARIJUANA SMUGGLED IN BIBLE

When Jeffery Keith Powell's mother walked into the Muscogee County Jail on
Aug. 4, she was carrying a large-print Bible for her son.

But jailers, tipped to a scheme to smuggle marijuana into the jail, found
rolling papers and marijuana sealed in the bulging binding of the Bible
Jeffery Powell's mama was toting.

The jailers also knew that Powell's mother didn't know she was carrying
contraband. Assistant District Attorney Crawford Seals told Muscogee
Superior Court Judge John Allen that was the work of Powell's girlfriend
and Michael A. Teasley.

Seals said Powell wrote a letter to his girlfriend, telling her in street
language that he needed more marijuana. The girlfriend arranged for
Powell's mother to pick up the Bible from Teasley. The print was too small
on the Bible she had earlier provided, Powell had complained. The mother
paid Teasley $80 for the large-print book, after the marijuana had been
hidden in its binding, he said.

But jailers, who had been tipped that marijuana was making its way into the
jail area where Powell was held, read that letter from Powell to his
girlfriend and were waiting for his mother's visit, Seals said.

Teasley, 31, of 2421 17th Ave., pleaded guilty Thursday to attempting to
cross guard lines with drugs and was sentenced to two years on probation,
fined $300 and ordered to participate in a drug rehabilitation program.
Teasley had no prior criminal conviction, having had his record cleared
upon completion of a First Offender Act sentence in 1997 for possessing
marijuana. Powell's girlfriend was not charged.

Powell, 31, was sentenced to four years in prison and six years in
probation on Sept. 13 after pleading guilty to first-degree forgery of a
check stolen from Teasley's father.