Woman charged with smuggling tobacco into Cape Girardeau County Jail

A Cape Girardeau County inmate faces a misdemeanor charge after allegedly smuggling tobacco, rolling papers and a lighter into the jail in November.

Angela Kennedy, 38, of Puxico, Mo., faces one count of delivery of an item at the county jail which prisoners are prohibited from receiving.

A sheriff's deputy received a tip that Kennedy had smuggled the forbidden items into the jail by wrapping them in a rubber glove and concealing them in a body cavity, according to a probable-cause statement by deputy Blake Jamison.

A search of Kennedy's cell revealed a black lighter wrapped in an unused tampon and a rubber glove with rolling papers and tobacco inside the fingers.

The glove had been shoved into the hollow of a toilet paper roll, the statement said.

Kennedy later told deputies she had smuggled the tobacco into the jail Nov. 5 when she turned herself in for a probation violation and a charge of possession of a controlled substance.

Kennedy could serve up to another year in jail if convicted.

Inmates will on occasion try to conceal contraband if they are brought to the jail immediately after an arrest to hide illegal items and avoid prosecution, said Capt. James Mulcahy of the sheriff's department.

Mulcahy said sheriff's deputies receive tips frequently that certain prisoners are hiding items they aren't supposed to have. Prisoners entering the jail can bring in only undergarments and socks.

In the past, county inmates could receive books, personal hygiene items and undergarments from family members, but those days have changed because of the time jail staff had to spend checking for contraband, Mulcahy said.

"We've found that the less we allow in, the fewer problems we have," Mulcahy said.

Now, family members may drop off money at the front desk of the jail, but prisoners must buy other items from the commissary, except books, which come to the jail through donations.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

388-3635