Traffic stop for driving to slow in Louisiana uncovers plot to drone drop drugs in prison

COLFAX — A traffic stop for driving too slowly ended up uncovering a cross-country trip by Texas residents who had planned to drop drugs into federal facilities across the country, Grant Parish law enforcement announced Thursday.

A Grant Parish Sheriff's deputy pulled over a vehicle on Airbase Road near the U.S. Penitentiary in Pollock around 1 a.m. over this past weekend for driving too slowly.

The deputy could smell drugs from outside the car, said Sheriff Steven McCain, and it didn't take too long for officials to figure out they had something much bigger than a traffic violation on their hands.

"Jayln Wilson and Keierra Hunter had a list of seven different facilities in the United States they were supposed to go to and drop off drugs," said McCain.

The sheriff said the drugs seized were worth $1,286,500. Also recovered were two drones that sell for almost $5,000 each and eight cellphones.

Another woman, 29-year-old Michaila Shermaine Freeman of Jefferson, Texas, was arrested on Wednesday with more contraband intended for the prison. Wilson, a 29-year-old Brazoria, Texas, resident, and another man, 22-year-old Noah Ryan Stegall of Austin, remain missing with warrants for their arrests.

Hunter, a Houston resident, is 20.

He called the operation “extremely organized and somewhat sophisticated.”

Investigations are continuing, including one by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to determine if any of their personnel were helping the group. McCain said the FBI is involved and that the U.S. Attorney's Office is looking at the case to see if it should be handled by them.

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Because of that, McCain was reluctant to provide detailed information about what had happened. But he did talk about some of the items seized and a new Louisiana law that took effect just a month ago that helped them make these arrests.

Among the drugs were 185 sheets of paper soaked in a synthetic marijuana known as K2 or Spice. The sheets had various photos printed on them — a gun, a wrecked car, other vehicles, drugs and more.

If they had gotten inside the prison, inmates could have placed some of the paper in their mouths to ingest the drug or could have smoked it, he said.

McCain said each sheet of paper would be torn into 16 strips, each worth $400, meaning this made up the bulk of the value of the drugs seized. Also found were Suboxone, THC wax, marijuana, a vacuum sealer and a scale.

"They had a very, very specific list of what was supposed to be dropped at each location," he said.

He said the drones would be used to drop soda cans stuffed with contraband inside or near the prison's fences. The drone operator could release the package wherever he or she wanted.

"They were ready," said McCain, mentioning the extra batteries. At least six extra batteries were displayed with the rest of the seized materials.

The Pollock Police Department was involved in the traffic stop, too.

“It’s like chasing a rabbit all the time,” said Chief Chris Paul about trying to stop the flow of drugs. “It’s a hard thing to do because as soon as you catch and stop one thing, they invent something else and have another means to introduce.”

Also involved was the Rapides Area Drug Enforcement unit. Two vehicles have been seized, "and we're expecting a number of arrests as this investigation continues," said McCain.

He asked area residents to report anything that looks suspicious to them near the prison.

"We don't want this poison in our community, and we're going to do everything we can to keep this out and keep our parish safe."

The charges each person was arrested or is wanted on are:

• Hunter: Two counts of distribution of synthetic marijuana and one count each of distribution of marijuana and distribution of Suboxone.

• Freeman: One count each of possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, distribution of synthetic marijuana and introduction of contraband into a penal institution.

• Wilson and Stegall: Two counts of distribution of synthetic marijuana and one count each of distribution of marijuana, distribution of Suboxone, introduction of contraband into a penal institute and criminal attempt.

The four were charged using a law that just took effect on Aug. 1, Act. No. 302. It beefs up the previous law regarding contraband, adding the two federal prison sites in Louisiana that encompass four prisons and two camps. Both of those are in Central Louisiana – in Pollock and in Allen Parish.

The previous law only applied to state institutions. McCain had approached Rep. Gabe Firment before the last session and told him about the problems they were having fighting contraband in the federal prison. He ended up co-authoring the bill with Rep. Rodney Schamerhorn, and Gov. John Bel Edwards signed it in June.

Grant Parish District Attorney Jay Lemoine said items have been added to the new law that can result in someone’s arrest now.

“With the former law, obviously if you showed up with drugs, you could be arrested,” he said. “But if you showed up with cellphones, you couldn’t, because there’s a list of things that are contraband in the prison that aren’t illegal to possess.”

Act 302 changes that.

But, despite the new law, it doesn’t stop attempts to get illegal items into prisons and jails. Both McCain and Wood spoke about the struggle to stop that, but Wood acknowledged inmates get contraband and even direct criminal operations from behind bars.

“It’s amazing what these guys can do,” said Wood.

He said, in Rapides Parish, people outside the jail facilities would throw softballs with drugs over fences. Officials had to shut down a street to stop it, he said.

Paul used cigarettes as an example.

“Those are worth money. A lot of money,” he said. “One cigarette’s worth $100, so the pack’s $1,000.”

Once prisoners begin bartering and trading, lives can be at stake if someone finds they can’t pay what is owed to someone else, said Paul.

“It’s worth a lot of money to bring that stuff in.”

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Traffic stop stops attempt to drop drugs into Pollock prison by drones