Woman held for court in smuggling proceeding

WEST CHESTER >> The woman accused of trying to bring heroin and a syringe into the Chester County Prison admitted as much to a Chester County Detective investigating the case, as investigators testified at a preliminary hearing held Tuesday.

According to Detective Christopher Bucci, Keriann Elizabeth Meyers told one of his colleagues originally assigned to the case that she had purposefully put one bag of heroin, a bag of pills, and a needle and syringe inside her body so that she would have access to the drugs when she was incarcerated in late November.

Meyers, on probation for retail theft at the time, knew that she would be taken into custody prior to attending a meeting with her probation officer because she had used heroin recently and would test positive for the drug, a violation that would result in her being taken into custody.

Meyers, 32, of Caln, was held for trial in Common Pleas Court after a brief hearing before Magisterial District Judge Mark Bruno. Afterwards, she was returned to the county prison where she is being held on a detainer and on $7,500 cash bail. She is charged with contraband possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Meyers, dress in a red striped shirt, and black sweater, blue jeans and glasses, did not address the judge during the proceeding.

Bucci, who said he did not initiate the investigation into Meyers’ alleged offenses but took over the case from Detective Gerald Davis, testified that heroin was found in Meyers’ possession three times in the case: once when she was initially taken into custody at the county Justice Center on Nov. 28, once when heroin was found in

her purse in detention at the prison, and once at the Chester County Hospital, where she had been taken later that day for an unrelated medical issue.

Bucci was questioned by Assistant District Attorney Chris Miller, who attempted to show Bruno that not only did Meyers have heroin in her possession at the courthouse, but also that she must have had it during her intake at the prison — thus the charge of contraband.

But Assistant Public Defender Katie Walsh, representing Meyers, questioned whether anyone in the case had actually seen her hide the bags and thus could be able to tell whether she had them while at the prison.

According to a criminal complaint filed by Bucci last month, the incident began around 4 p.m. Nov. 28 when Meyers reported to the county’s Adult Probation Office in the Justice Center for a scheduled meeting with her probation officer. When questioned by Probation Officer Michelle Ward, Meyers admitted to using heroin previously and failing to check in with the office. She was taken into custody by sheriff deputies.

A search of her and her belongings uncovered a bag of suspected heroin concealed in her bra, and nine more bags of the drug in her purse. She was then strip searched, and the female deputy who conducted the search spotted the end of a capped hypodermic needle protruding from inside her body. Meyers was ordered to remove it, and did so.

She and her belongings were then transported to the prison, where an additional search was conducted by corrections officers. There, two more bags of heroin were found hidden in the lining of her purse, and another strip search was conducted in which nothing more was found, the complaint stated.

But Meyers later that day was taken to the Chester County Hospital for an unrelated health matter. Once there, a corrections officer who had accompanied her noticed a bulge in her sock that had not been there previously. He recovered a small bundle that contained heroin and pills. Meyers told the officer that she had put the bundle inside her body and had removed it and placed it in her sock while at the hospital.

In an interview with county Detective Gerald Davis on Dec. 7, Meyers admitted bringing the heroin into the prison and the syringe into the Justice Center, “because she knew she would be incarcerated for probation violations and wanted to bring the controlled substances into the prison.”