A jailhouse phone call has led to an indictment for several local residents.
A Union County Grand Jury has indicted Ethan Lowther, Samara Kirklin and Christopher Slone, alleging the three were part of a plot to sneak drugs into the Tri-County Regional Jail.
Union County Prosecutor Dave Phillips said staff routinely monitors phone calls into and out of the Tri-County Regional Jail. During a June 7 phone call, staff learned that Kirklin and Slone were planning to sneak drugs into the prison for Lowther and another prisoner, Caleb Parish. It was learned that Kirklin got drugs and gave them to Slone to take into the jail.
The group allegedly hid strips of suboxone inside the Velcro straps of a knee brace. Once in the jail, Parish and Lowther were to share the drugs.
Phillips said that on June 9, Slone delivered a package addressed to Parish. Investigators, tipped by the phone call, searched the package and found the drugs.
Phillips said drugs are dangerous in every situation, but especially inside a jail or prison. He said drugs can cause inmates to be unpredictable and violent and can cause others around them to create violence in an attempt to get them. He said that unpredictability is difficult and dangerous for both corrections officers and inmates.
Parish, of 128 E. Ottawa Street, Richwood, has a lengthy criminal history for theft and other theft related offenses.
At the time of the allegations, Parish was under indictment for receiving stolen property and failure to appear as required by recognizance.
Lowther, 26, of 27611 Route 31, Raymond remains in Tri-County Regional Jail under indictment, charged with one count each of involuntary manslaughter, three counts of complicity in the commission of an offense and two counts each of corrupting another with drugs, trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound receiving stolen property.
Lowther, along with Slone, 27, of 101 W. Ottawa Street, and Kirklin, 20, of 29429 January Road, West Mansfield, could each face more than 11 years in prison if convicted on all counts connected to the plot.