CLEARFIELD – A Philadelphia woman accused of sneaking drugs into the State Correctional Institute in Houtzdale waived her right to preliminary hearings in two cases during centralized court.
Stephanie Ann Young was charged by the Department of Corrections in October with two counts each of contraband and manufacture/delivery/possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, felonies, as well as one felony count of criminal use of communication facility, and two misdemeanor counts each of intentional possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia in both cases.
According to the affidavit, in August authorities were advised that Young was planning on introducing drugs into the facility for an inmate, Dashawn Anthony Harris, 36.
When she arrived at the prison, she was subjected to an air-scan by a K-9 officer. The dog alerted to the presence of a controlled substance. Young was then asked if she had any controlled substances concealed on her person and she admitted she had a package concealed internally. She agreed to turn this over to the officers.
The package was reportedly 101 strips of Suboxone concealed in a balloon inside a condom.
In her interview with authorities, Young explained she was to deliver the strips to Harris during their visit. In return for the delivery, Harris was to pay her rent.
She stated she knew she had done the “wrong thing”, but was not positive the package included drugs.
As part of the investigation, recorded telephone calls, messages and letters between the two were reviewed. These revealed Young had delivered a similar package to Harris in July that he said he could sell for up to $6,000. In a letter he wrote that he planned to make $58,000 total with his plan to introduce Suboxone and other drugs.
The criminal complaint in the second case details a plan for Young to copy a legal document onto a separate piece of paper that was then sent to a court office. The paper tested positive for a synthetic cannabinoids.
Young told officers that she received the sheet of paper from an unidentified individual who dropped it off in her mailbox.
Her cases now move on to the court of common pleas for further disposition. She is free on $25,000, unsecured bail in each case.
Harris is charged with felony contraband, criminal use of communication facility and manufacture/delivery/possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, along with misdemeanor intentional possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia in two cases.
Harris is scheduled for jury selection in April.
