Stillwater Guard Charged With Smuggling Meth Into Prison
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Minn. (WCCO) - A correctional officer at Stillwater prison has been charged for allegedly working with an inmate to smuggle drugs into the facility.
Faith Rose Gratz, 24, is charged with first-degree sale of drugs and first-degree possession of 50 grams or more of drugs in Washington County. Both charges have a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, if she is convicted.
According to the criminal complaint, investigators at Stillwater prison confiscated a cell phone from an inmate in early April. They learned Gratz had given the inmate the phone and found several messages between the two discussing drugs.
The inmate allegedly arranged for Gratz to pick up half a pound of methamphetamine from an outside source and bring it inside the prison when Gratz returned to work on April 8 or April 9.
Bayport police officers were positioned near the prison parking lot when they saw Gratz arrive around 5:30 a.m. on April 8. They executed a search warrant and found a plastic bag containing 233.4 grams of methamphetamine under the back seat, the complaint says.
In a post-Miranda statement, Gratz admitted to bringing six packages to the inmate in the last four months. She said she didn't know what the packages were, but said she learned later that they were narcotics.
