LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After a drug smuggling case at LMDC, three people have been indicted with trafficking for their involvement.
Police said Keanna Decius mailed suboxone to Garrett Minefield and Robert Richardson, who were incarcerated in jail.
The drugs were hidden in mail labeled from an attorney in an attempt to avoid detection, police said.
All three are scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 12.
Original story:
Metro Corrections have arrested three people in connection to a foiled drug-smuggling plot, using fake legal mail.
Keanna Decius was charged for using fake legal mail to smuggle narcotics into Metro Corrections Friday.
Jerry Collins, the director of Metro Correction, said Decius was arrested on Aug. 26, alleging she tried to smuggle strips of suboxone inside LMDC by disguising them as attorney-client privileged mail.
Officials said Decius is being charged with promoting contraband and trafficking in a controlled substance.
Detectives also allege that Garrett Minefield and Robert Richardson, who are incarcerated at LMDC, conspired with Decius to have the suboxone strips delivered.
Minefield and Garrett were charged with conspiracy to promote contraband and conspiracy trafficking in a controlled substance.
Detectives alleged Decius attempted to introduce a total of 49 suboxone strips into Metro Corrections, after two separate pieces of disguised mail were intercepted on two different days.
"So she [Decius] was arrested on Friday, and then we believe we intercepted another one we believe coming from her on Monday," Collins said.
Collins said it's a big win for LMDC, and something jail staff said they’ve been seeing more of lately.
“It’s been an amazing turnaround with the implementation of the new body scanners, there’s been over 200 times that body scanner has caught contraband coming into the facility,” he said.
LMDC Corrections Officer Daniel Johnson said it’s one of the many ways the jail has been trying to combat a long-standing issue of drug-use in its facility.
Another way has been the implementation of the K9 Narcotics Unit.
“There’s been over 90 different instances where contraband has been removed, due to indications from the canine unit,” Johnson said.
Johnson said it’s been a huge turn-around for that jail, that used to see overdoses daily, to now, rarely. Though they still happen.
"We're never gonna get to where we want to be fast enough," Collins said.
But through and emphasis on transparency and accountability, he hopes the jail can overcome some of the biggest challenges it faces.
"We've seen [a] rise in suicide attempts," Collins said. "And folks that need mental health treatment, and often those are coexisting, so we're treating both of those, you know, as number one."
Under Collins, the jail has installed Narcan units in inmate dorms.
Another issue, Collins said, is staffing. He said that Metro Corrections is looking to hire approximately 100 corrections officers.
Johnson said the long-standing low staffing in the jail is starting to take a turn for the better, with 21 new-hires currently in the middle of an onboarding process.
"We had over 30 people put in [applications] for the laterals," Johnson said. "We've had 25 people put in [applications] for the transportation team. So we're seeing a huge increase in applications on people coming in."
Collins said the jail will soon install new technology which will help officers sift through mail and detect items with hidden contraband inside.
"I'm proud of the good work of the detectives involved. The continued efforts to interdict drugs are paying off. We must continue to be vigilant on all fronts to make sure we are maintaining a safe environment for the incarcerated population and the correctional staff," Jerry Collins, director, said. "We will continue to prosecute those who put others' lives at risk by introducing dangerous substances into this facility."
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