Drug Smuggling in Jail

Posted on 07/14/2022

Date: July 14, 2022
Case: Drug Smuggling in Jail - 22-5587
Authority: Detective Lieutenant Tim Kemps

Forty two year old Ryan Paxton and his 33-year-old old girlfriend Stephanie Doll, both of the City of Hartford, are now both charged in Washington County Circuit Court on felony charges of smuggling illegal contraband into the Washington County Jail after a several-month-long investigation by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Task Force.

The investigation began in February 2022 when an inmate at the Washington County jail, had jumped off the top railing of the second floor of his jail pod. As a result of the jump, the inmate suffered severe injuries. Thankfully, corrections staff immediately rendered first aid and called for an ambulance. The victim was eventually able to fully recover from his injuries.

The ensuing investigation into this incident revealed that Paxton, who was an inmate at the time, had given the other inmate a piece of paper which was then put into the mouth to get high. The inmate indicated that the effects of the paper caused him to jump from the second tier. Investigators learned that Doll had been purchasing the drug-laced papers over the internet. She would then have their daughter draw pictures and write letters on paper, as well as stuff them with family photographs to disguise them as normal correspondence. Investigators were able to learn of an impending delivery of these papers and intercept them as they came into the jail. A search warrant was then conducted in the City of Milwaukee at Doll’s residence where further evidence was gathered. The papers were sent off to the crime lab for testing. Results recently showed that the substances were synthetic cannabinoids, commonly known as K2, or Spice. The substance that was ingested by the inmate who jumped was a controlled substance in the State of Wisconsin, however, the substance in the second shipment of papers was not as yet scheduled in Wisconsin as it had a slightly altered chemical composition from the first substance. It is a felony in the State of Wisconsin to deliver, receive or conceal contraband for smuggling into a jail facility and both now face an additional three and a half years in prison, if convicted.

At the direction of Washington County Sheriff Martin Schulteis, the jail staff was able to efficiently and effectively implement new procedures and tactics in which mail is screened and scanned. The inmates then receive an electronic copy of their mail and the original mail is safely destroyed. This was accomplished with an existing vendor at no extra cost to the taxpayer. There are multiple ways that smuggling can occur within a correctional setting and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office are constantly focusing on deploying effective countermeasures to combat these dangers.