Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Drexel Hill woman, inmate boyfriend face charges in prison drug smuggling caper
A Drexel Hill woman has been arrested for smuggling drugs into her boyfriend behind bars in the Delaware County Prison, officials said Thursday.
“Bringing drugs into a correctional facility is a serious felony offense and those who attempt to do so in Delaware County will be arrested and prosecuted,” said Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun Copeland in the release. “In the case of inmate Joseph Terranova, even while incarcerated, he could not refrain from committing a crime, and instead conspired with his girlfriend, Heather Stamm, to surreptitiously bring drugs into the prison, intending on selling the Suboxone and lining his pockets with money.”
Stamm, 35, of the 3400 block of Garrett Road, is facing contraband and conspiracy charges, both felonies of the second degree, as well as delivery/possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, an ungraded felony. Terranova, 36, is facing the same charges.
Terranova was searched by prison officials following a visit from Stamm Aug. 6, according to the release. Correctional officers discovered “several orange bags of suboxone,” a Schedule III controlled substance, in Terranova’s folded visitor’s pass, the release states.
Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division Detectives Sergeant Patterson and Louis Grandizio reported to the prison and spoke with Stamm, according to the release. She allegedly waived her Miranda rights and admitted to passing 22 strips of Suboxone to Terranova.
Stamm also indicated there were eight more sealed packs of Suboxone in her vehicle, which was parked on prison property, according to the release. Those were also recovered.
Stamm was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Wendy B. Roberts, who set bail at 10 percent
of $50,000. Court records indicate Stamm posted $5,000 cash Wednesday and has filed an application for a public defender. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 16. A detainer was also lodged with the prison for Terranova.
Another woman, 52-yearold Janette Ortiz, of the 2800 block of N. Third
Street in Philadelphia, was convicted on similar charges last month after also attempting to pass Suboxone to her incarcerated son during a February 2017 visit.
A jury deliberated for less than 90 minutes before convicting Ortiz on drug distribution, contraband and criminal use of communication facility charges for delivering 20 strips of Suboxone to Julio Ortiz during a Feb. 5 visit.
Sentencing is set for
Aug. 20 before Judge John Capuzzi in that case. Janette Ortiz, who has two previous convictions for delivery of a controlled substance, faces a mandatory minimum two years of incarceration.
Julio Ortiz, who was already serving a sentence for possession with intent to deliver, pled guilty to possession charges and received a 23-month sentence with two years of probation. He has since been transferred to SCI Smithfield.