CLEARFIELD – A 33-year-old Clearfield woman who has been accused of sneaking pills in the heel of her shoe into the Clearfield County Jail waived her right to a preliminary hearing at Centralized Court on Wednesday.
Brandy Michelle Rothrock, 33, of Clearfield faces charges of controlled substance contraband to confined persons prohibited; contraband other than controlled substance; and criminal conspiracy. Her co-defendant Paul Harold Hoyt, 20, of Curwensville saw his hearing continued in the case.
Hoyt has been charged with criminal conspiracy/controlled substance contraband to confined persons prohibited; controlled substance contraband to confined persons prohibited; and contraband other than controlled substance.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on April 28 Officer Jonathan Walker of the Lawrence Township Police Department received a call from Clearfield County Control to contact the jail about contraband that they had found.
Walker called the jail and spoke with Deputy Warden Scott Mignot. He related they had recovered six pills from Rothrock’s shoes. He said she had brought the contraband into the jail approximately two weeks prior.
Walker retrieved five, 50-milligram Seroquell pills and a single, 8-milligram Suboxin pill. He took photographs of them as well as the location in which they were found. He indicated they would have been in the inmate’s personal property room, which is locked.
In court documents, on April 27 jail officials were notified by another inmate that Rothrock allegedly had pills hidden in her shoes. At this time, Rothrock was only incarcerated on weekends.
Officials then ordered a search of Rothrock’s personal possession box, which is locked in a room at the jail. They retrieved and searched the defendant’s shoes. They found five, 50-milligram Seroquell pills and one, 8-milligram Suboxin inside the “side wall” of the shoes.
Rothrock was written up and placed on lockdown for the incident. On April 28, Rothrock approached a jail official, stating she didn’t own the pills. She related they had to belong to someone else.
On April 29, Walker conducted interviews with inmates who had knowledge about the pills and shared the same jail block as Rothrock.
In her written statement, an inmate said she had stayed at Rothrock’s on April 6. She said Rothrock and her boyfriend discussed how to take Seroquell and Suboxin into the jail for her weekend stay.
“So, they decided on the heel of her sneakers,” the inmate said. When she came into the jail April 10, she asked the defendant if they had snuck the pills in.
She added, “She said, ‘No, they wouldn’t give her the sneakers, but no one had said anything. She didn’t think they found them.”
She related Rothrock was then called to the warden’s office. She said the defendant came back bawling and relating she had just “put on a big show.”
She said Rothrock also related she told the warden a known person or the inmate must have set her up.
“(She) swore up and down on her children she would never do that,” the inmate said. “Then, she said she had to tell him something (about) she couldn’t do state time, she’d kill herself.”
The inmate said Rothrock and she discussed taking the pills into the jail, suggesting her “jail purse.” But she said they decided on the back, inside of a sneaker’s heel.
In court documents, another inmate at the jail, said someone had previously instructed Rothrock about how to sneak pills into the jail in shoes.
At that time, she said Rothrock admitted to possessing two Seroquell and one Suboxin. She said the defendant asked her many times if she would either retrieve her shoes, or knew of their location.
Walker indicated other inmates related they had observed Rothrock’s behavior at the jail. They believed she was under the influence of “smoothing” but unsure of what.
When she came to the jail, another inmate said she became “buddy buddy” with the defendant. She said Rothrock admitted to sneaking in pills in the heel of her shoe.
“When she got caught, she told me she lied to the warden,” she said, “and to go with her story that her ex-(boyfriend) Paul and sister set her up.”
She too related that Rothrock said she’d kill herself if she was “sent up state.”
On April 29, Walker interviewed the defendant during which time she initially denied the allegations against her. He said she related they were her sister’s shoes.
Walker related to Rothrock that he had a number of inmates who had stepped forward during the investigation. He said she then admitted that the pills were hers, and she had brought them into the jail.
Rothrock also waived charges in a second case against her Wednesday. In the case, she faces charges of manufacture/deliver/possession with intent to manufacture or deliver controlled substance; intentional possession of controlled substance by person not registered; and criminal use of communication facility.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on June 5, 2009, police arranged for a purchase of prescription medication from Rothrock. They were informed the defendant had seven, generic Percocet for $8 each. They later contacted Rothrock, who again confirmed she had pills for sale.
Rothrock wanted them to meet her in Bigler. They agreed to meet the defendant and purchased the pills with $56 of BNI funds. She reportedly handed them what was later identified as seven, 325-milligram Acetaminophen, 10-milligram Hydrocodone Bitartrate, a Schedule III narcotic.