Woman Allegedly Uses Bible To Smuggle Drugs Into Jail

A Missouri woman tipped police off to a new way to smuggle contraband into jail Monday, the Kansas City Star reported. The Vernon County Sheriff’s Office accused Ashley Despain of trying to smuggle marijuana, meth and written messages into Vernon County Jail by hiding all of those items in a Bible.

"Usually [a Bible] is something you bring to help somebody through situations," Sheriff Jason Mosher told the Star. "That’s probably the wrong kind of help — putting drugs in it."

Despain, 35, was hit with a felony charge of delivery or possession of a controlled substance in a jail. It is a felony no matter what the perpetrator was trying to smuggle, reports the publication. Police initially thought the Bible only had weed hidden in it, but they later found meth and notes intended for multiple inmates.

A guard was tipped off to the presence of drugs in Despain’s copy of the Good Book by a tell-tale lump in it. The delivery had been previously scheduled, but jailers were not sure about the nature of the relationship between Despain and the unidentified inmate.

A passenger in Despain’s car was also arrested alongside her, on a different, outstanding warrant.

Vernon County Jail only allows Bibles and other literature to be given to inmates from the outside, but Mosher noted jailers at the facility will now be on the lookout for that sort of behavior again.

Using a Bible to bring drugs into jails might be new to them, but people have done it before. A Mississippi woman tried to transport meth into a jail in 2017, but was unsuccessful. People who wish to deliver gifts to inmates have also moved into more modern modes of transport in recent years, as there have been multiple cases of people using drones to smuggle contraband into jails and prisons.