A Wideman woman is facing drug charges after officials say she smuggled drugs into the Baxter County jail, leading to another inmate’s overdose.
Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery said Andi Rush, 22, is being charged with possession of a schedule 1 controlled substance; furnishing, possessing or using prohibited articles; and impairing the operation of a vital public facility.
On Monday, inmates told jail workers that a female inmate was unconscious and barely breathing, Montgomery said. The inmate, whose name has not been released, was transported to Baxter Regional Medical Center for treatment.
The woman had overdosed on a substance she snorted that had been smuggled into the jail, he said.
Rush was booked into the the jail on Monday to serve an incarceration sentence ordered by Baxter County District Court. She was searched by jail officials but had concealed the substance in a “body orifice,” Montgomery said.
Rush admitted to smuggling the drugs into the jail and giving some to the woman who overdosed. She told officials that she flushed the rest of the drugs down the toilet when she saw the woman had overdosed.
Rush told investigators that she thought she smuggled heroin into the jail, but officials believe the substance may have been Ecstasy based on results of a substance found by investigators during a home search on Tuesday.
Officials say they believe substance originated from a residence at 765 Baxter County Road 215 in the Jordan area, where Dennis Lawton, 49, of Wideman was found with various drugs in his possession.
Lawton was arrested Tuesday and charged with possession of a schedule 2 controlled substance, meth, with purpose of delivery; possession of a schedule 1 controlled substance, Ecstasy; two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.
Rush is being held in lieu of $25,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Baxter County Circuit Court later this month. Lawton is being held in lieu of $25,000 bond and has a court appearance scheduled for Thursday.