Baltimore mom gets suspended sentence for bringing drugs to state prison near Hagerstown
Facing the possibility of prison time and being away from her children, a Baltimore woman told a Washington County Circuit Court judge last week that delivering synthetic opioids to a state prison near Hagerstown was the "biggest mistake I made in my entire life."
"I can't leave my children the way my mother left me," Julie Danielle Chatterton, 25, told retired Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. during a Feb. 20 plea hearing about the incident last summer.
Chatterton addressed Long and new Judge Kirk C. Downey after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of delivering contraband — buprenorphine — to an inmate at Roxbury Correctional Institution south of Hagerstown on June 4, 2023. That inmate was described in court documents as her boyfriend.
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Buprenorphine, according to the National Institutes of Health's website, is a synthetic opioid used to treat pain and opioid use disorder.
Assistant State's Attorney Brock Shriver said if the case had gone to trial, evidence would have been presented showing that investigators with RCI's intelligence division found Chatterton dropped off several packages of contraband in a diaper disposal can in the prison gatehouse.
An investigator checked the bathroom prior to Chatterton entering it, finding nothing, and again after she was the only person to leave the room. The investigator found the contraband, which included 200 strips of buprenorphine labeled "N8," according to Shriver and charging documents.
Long sentenced Chatterton to two years in state prison, pausing before letting her know he was suspending that sentence.
She has one day's credit for time served.
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He fined her $500, plus court costs.
Long ordered Chatterton to be on supervised probation for three years, transferring supervision of that probation to Baltimore. Probation conditions include abstaining from drugs and alcohol, submitting to a substance abuse evaluation and, depending on the results, following her probation agent's recommendation for treatment.
As part of the plea deal, 19 other charges were dismissed. Those included two felony counts of drug possession with the intent to distribute regarding buprenorphine and methamphetamine, according to court records. Other dismissed charges included several misdemeanor counts for intending to deliver telecommunication devices or other contraband, including cellphones, chargers and SIM cards.
The dangers of contraband in prison
Assistant Public Defender Loren Villa told the judges that she discussed the matter with Chatterton, telling her that delivering contraband is "a very real and serious threat inside" a prison.
While delivering the contraband might not have seemed like a big deal to Chatterton, Villa said she informed her client that people feel differently in Washington County, where there are three state prisons.
Villa said she tried to provide her client perspective, noting that contraband is like "cash currency" in a state prison and could risk human life. It creates danger for inmates, correctional officers and other people working in prisons, she said.
"She wasn't aware. She was woefully naive," Villa told the judges.
Villa said she told Chatterton, in preparing for the hearing, to make arrangements for her children and have people in court to support her because she didn't know if Chatterton would be sent to prison. The public defender shared with the judges numerous character references and letters she received about Chatterton.
Chatterton told Long she knows her actions were "unforgivable" and that she's "ready to do better for myself and my family."
Chatterton answered Long's questions, saying she had been to the prison "maybe four other times before this" and she had noticed the signs not to bring drugs.
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Long told Chatterton that by bringing drugs to a prison, she "might as well be bringing a Glock to prison."
"I don't know that you truly understand the gravity of the situation. This is serious stuff," Long said.
"You never, ever want to try this again. You got caught. They'll be watching you if you come back," Long said.
One of Chatterton's probation conditions is not to be on the premises of any state prisons in Washington County.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Baltimore woman sentenced after pleading to bringing contraband to RCI
