Woman accused of using Bible to smuggle drugs into Miss. jail
TUPELO, Miss. -- Today’s Bible lesson: It’s a bad idea to use the good book to smuggle drugs into jail.
The Bible in question was dropped off Thursday for an inmate convicted last week of methamphetamine trafficking and awaiting transfer to state prison, a Mississippi sheriff said.
“We continuously search property that comes in, letters, that come in, letters that go, out, it’s amazing, to the general public of what you can find,” Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson told CBS affiliate WCBI-TV. “They used the Bible, thinking it would be an easier way to ship it in and wouldn’t be checked.”
Johnson said officials cut the back cover of the Bible open and discovered a powdery substance. A local lab identified methamphetamine and said it couldn’t identify a second substance, so a sample was sent to the state crime lab.
Courtney Ford, 30, of Nettleton has been charged with possessing an illegal drug and trying to bring contraband into the jail. Her bond was set at $75,000, WCBI-TV reports. She was facing a charge of possessing a controlled substance and was out on bond when she was arrested.
Stephen Jason Estes, 41, of Plantersville, had been sentenced to 40 years in prison, but with 34 suspended, and was awaiting transfer to a state prison when the Bible was left for him.
“We know he knew about it because that day, he kept asking where his Bible was, even before she dropped it off,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he hopes the judge will now reverse the suspension. His bond on the new charge was set at $30,000.
