HOUSTON — A Texas attorney has been accused of the usage of work-related visits to a county jail to smuggle in criminal bureaucracy laced with ecstasy and artificial marijuana to inmates over the last a number of months, government introduced Monday.
Ronald Lewis, 77, used to be arrested on Friday after arriving on the Harris County Jail in Houston to seek advice from an inmate, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez stated at a news convention.
During his arrest, Lewis had 11 sheets of paper believed to be laced with narcotics, in accordance to government.
Lewis has been charged with two counts of bringing a prohibited substance right into a correctional facility. He is unfastened after posting bonds totaling $15,000. An attorney for Lewis didn’t instantly go back a decision in quest of touch upon Monday. Records with the State Bar of Texas display that Lewis has been a certified attorney since 1982.
His arrest got here after a monthslong investigation by means of the jail-based Criminal Investigations and Security Division, a brand new unit created previous this 12 months to probe an build up in drug overdoses at what’s the biggest county jail in Texas, Gonzalez stated.
In June, following two inmate deaths that have been most likely drug-related, the brand new unit started investigating information that unlawful narcotics have been being smuggled into the jail in bureaucracy that used to be sprayed or dipped with a chemical compound, stated sheriff’s place of business Lt. Jay Wheeler.
Investigators gained guidelines that led them to Lewis.
Authorities allege that from July till this month, Lewis visited 14 inmates on the jail and he equipped them with sheets of drug-laced papers, that have been disguised as criminal mail or different criminal paperwork, Wheeler stated.
Lewis used to be paid from $250 to $500 consistent with transaction to smuggle in the papers, government stated.
During the investigation, roughly 154 sheets of paper believed to be laced with narcotics have been confiscated, Wheeler stated.
“We’re currently working with the Texas Rangers to determine if any of the narcotics introduced in the jail by Mr. Lewis contributed to the death of any inmate,” Wheeler stated.
Other lawyers also are suspected of smuggling drug-laced bureaucracy into the jail however “we don’t think it’s actually widespread,” Gonzalez stated.
“There’s incredible attorneys out there that uphold their oaths and work very hard to take care of their clients and make sure that they’re representing them effectively,” Gonzalez stated. “There’s always going to be those that choose illegal ways of doing things … and if they are, it doesn’t matter who they are. We’re going to make sure we investigate it fully and hold them accountable.”
Gonzalez stated the county jail is like others across the nation that experience observed an build up in overdoses. The county jail has had a minimum of 18 inmate deaths this 12 months, some of them believed to be drug-related.
To limit the float of unlawful medication into the jail, the sheriff’s place of business is transitioning to a brand new gadget that may digitize inmate paperwork, together with criminal bureaucracy and letters.
“We’re going to continue to raise the bar and do everything we can to make sure that we’re keeping a safe facility, as safe as possible,” Gonzalez stated.
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