Eight face charges in jail drug ring
Eight people have been charged in a bizarre trafficking conspiracy to smuggle drugs into the Oklahoma County jail.
"The majority of suspects in this case are either members of, or have ties to, the street gang known as the Irish Mob," authorities reported.
Prosecutors allege one defendant, Jessica Lynn Bolton, used a hydraulic press to compact methamphetamine, heroin and other drugs into small pieces of plastic pipe to be smuggled into the jail in a body cavity of another defendant, Shareese Renee Jackson.
Jackson admitted she received a package from Bolton, hid it and then surrendered herself to the jail on an outstanding warrant, a sheriff’s investigator reported in a court affidavit. Jackson told the investigator she gave the drugs to inmate Maria R. Moore on Jan. 4 once inside the jail.
Moore is accused of then delivering the drugs to another inmate, Zachary D. Millard, “via the sewer system” in the jail. During a Jan. 8 search of Millard’s cell, investigators found 25 grams of heroin, 40 grams of cannabis, cigarettes, cigars and parts of a syringe, according to the affidavit.
“Smuggling drugs and other contraband into the jail endangers jail employees, officers and inmates alike,”
First Assistant District Attorney Scott Rowland told The Oklahoman on Wednesday. “The sheriff’s office has done stellar work in this investigation and in dismantling this particular conspiracy.”
Millard, 30, of Oklahoma City; Jackson, 45, of Del City; Bolton, 21, of Oklahoma City; and Moore, 31, of Oklahoma City, were charged Tuesday with conspiracy to traffic a controlled dangerous substance, trafficking illegal drugs, possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute and possession of contraband in a penal institution.
Also charged in the conspiracy count is Matthew Issac Henson, 25, of Yukon; Christian Eric Meador, 20, of Oklahoma City; Alona Nicole Crenshaw, 31, of Oklahoma City; and Chad T. Back, 32, of Lawton.
Further specifics on the defendants’ gang ties were not given, but prosecutors reported an alias for Millard is “Irish Jr.”
The investigation relied on video surveillance in the jail and recorded jail calls between many of the defendants. Other than Crenshaw and Moore, each defendant also was charged with at least one count of using a telephone to facilitate the commission of a felony.
“I monitored multiple telephone calls from the Oklahoma County Detention Center and uncovered a pattern and an organized attempt to circumvent security protocols inside the (jail),” an investigator reported.
Jackson turned herself in Jan. 4 on an unrelated drug charge, records show. She said she was then paid $300 for smuggling the contraband, according to the affidavit.
The investigator reported Back deposited the money into Jackson’s inmate account.
Other than Meador and Back, all defendants were being held in the Oklahoma County jail Wednesday. Records show Back has been in a Lawton prison since 2008 on drug and other offenses.
Meador was moved out of the Oklahoma County jail in December. He is serving time in an Alva prison for drug offenses, records show.
A search of Bolton’s home and a storage unit last month revealed more meth, heroin, marijuana and drug paraphernalia, authorities said.