CLEARFIELD, Pa (GANT) – Charges have been filed against a Clearfield woman who is accused of smuggling drugs into the Clearfield County Jail and causing three women to overdose with one of them dying.
(This article was provided by our News Partner GantDaily.com.)
Angela Marie Ricketts, 38, was charged by the Clearfield Regional police on Tuesday with drug delivery resulting in death, three counts each of contraband/controlled substance, possession controlled substance contraband/inmate, manufacture/delivery/possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, and intentional possession of a controlled substance, all felonies as well as misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter and three counts each of recklessly endangering another person and possession of drug paraphernalia.
She was arraigned Wednesday and placed in the county jail without bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 27.
The charges stem from incidents at the jail in July.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, in the early morning hours of July 8, Kaitlyn Renee Evans was seen sleeping in an awkward position by a corrections officer.
When another CO checked on her later, she tried to wake her up by calling her name, but she didn’t respond.
After she didn’t wake up when shaken by her cellmate, the doors to her cell were opened and she was placed on the floor.
She had no pulse and the COs began CPR, which was continued by Emergency Medical Services after they arrived. She was pronounced dead by the coroner.
When the cell was searched, police say they found a contact lens container with an unknown crystallized rock.
They also located a plastic straw and a small crystallized rock that tested positive for Fentanyl that had reportedly rolled off the victim when she was moved to the floor.
In a commissary bag, they allegedly found 29 pills thought to be Xanax and Klonopin.
Police say these drugs were smuggled into the facility by Ricketts, who hid them in a body cavity.
Ricketts was in the jail following an encounter with DuBois City police on July 5 at a hotel.
She and a man were acting suspiciously and asking employees drug-related questions. She was taken into custody on a warrant and transported to the jail.
She allegedly had three baggies of drugs including cocaine, Fentanyl, Xanax and Klonopin concealed in her body.
While she was at the jail, she reportedly gave another inmate a small “rock” piece “because she was asking for it to get high.” This inmate later tested positive for three different drugs.
On July 6, she was reportedly in the cell with the two women who overdosed where they did a “line off a book with a straw.” Shortly after this, one of the inmates had a seizure before becoming unresponsive.
While CPR was being performed on her, the second inmate became unconscious and efforts were made to resuscitate her. Both were eventually revived with Narcan.
While being transported by ambulance to the hospital, one of them reportedly said she got the drugs from Ricketts, who had drugs hidden on her person.
Other inmates stated that they knew Ricketts had drugs.
In an interview with investigators on July 8, Ricketts admitted to having Fentanyl and pills, which she used that day, but denied giving anything to Evans.
She also didn’t remember giving anything to the two women who overdosed because “she was high on Benzos.”
She explained how she smuggled the drugs into the jail and said the drugs must have come out of her into the toilet in Evans’ cell.
Reportedly she admitted to telling everyone on the block she was “packing” and had a brick or a gram of Fentanyl along with Klonopin and Xanax.
In a second interview on July 11, the officer told her he had reviewed video footage and did not believe her story. He asked again about what had actually happened.
She claimed Evans approached her right away asking for drugs. She again said the drugs must have fallen out when she used a toilet and that is how Evans got them.
After the officer told her he didn’t believe she got the drugs out of the toilet, she admitted to doing a “line” of drugs with her.
Ricketts did admit to giving the first inmate, and the only one who did not overdose, a bit of Fentanyl.
In a phone call with her sister on Sept. 1, Ricketts allegedly admitted to her that she brought drugs into the jail.
The victim, Evans, had both Fentanyl and acetyl Fentanyl in her system and the cause of death was a multi-drug overdose, according to the autopsy report.
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