HOUTZDALE – A Harrisburg woman and an inmate are facing charges after she allegedly delivered him balloons containing K2 and pills at the State Correctional Institution at Houtzdale.
Mariah Shenell Mitchell, 26, has been charged by state police at Clearfield with manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver; possession of controlled substance-contraband/inmate; and intentional possession of a controlled substance.
Eric Harden, 30, has also been charged in the case with intentional possession of a controlled substance. He waived his case to court for further disposition on April 4.
Mitchell waived the charges against her to court at her preliminary hearing on Wednesday. Her bail has been set at $25,000 unsecured.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on May 27, 2016, state police were dispatched after a report about a visitor delivering contraband to an inmate at SCI Houtzdale. Harden was being visited by Mitchell at the prison.
During an interview, Mitchell told state police she had brought small balloons containing K2 and Percocet pills into the prison. She said she kept the contraband hidden in a pocket of her garb.
Harden reached into her pocket and allegedly removed the balloons containing the drugs. He walked away from her and toward a gaming area inside of the visitation room.
Harden was then placed in a dry cell at the prison. He was monitored and in his feces on May 31, 2016 was five, small red balloons. Prison staff took possession of the balloons, and they were turned over to state police.
State police sent the balloons away to the Erie Crime Laboratory for analysis. According to the lab report, the balloons contained various amounts of oxycodone and synthetic cannabinoids.
