(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Tahlequah woman pleaded guilty Friday to bringing a large amount of contraband onto the Cushing prison grounds — where she attempted to throw packages containing such items as box blades, cellphones and tobacco over a fence in February.
Regina Ann Ballard, 34, was given a 30-day jail term as a condition of a two-year suspended sentence, fined $400, and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service within one year in a plea bargain approved by District Judge Phillip Corley Friday.
“The packages that Regina was attempting to throw over the fence contained the following: 20 cellphones, nine lighters, one package of four super-glue, one package of box blades, six AT&T Go cards, envelope that had a telephone number written on it, NET 10 activation code for a cellphone, three USB ports, 19 cellphone chargers, five clear plastic baggies containing tobacco,” an affidavit said.
Ballard was arrested at 8:05 p.m. on Feb. 18 by Cushing Police Sgt. Adam Harp, who was called to the prison at 7:47 p.m. — shortly after two Cimarron Correctional Facility officers leaving work saw her attempting to throw items over a fence, Harp’s affidavit said.
“It should be noted that one of the cellphones that was an IPhone had a picture of Regina along with an inmate that is currently incarcerated at the Cimarron Correctional Facility,” Harp’s affidavit said.
“Regina admitted to me that she tried to throw packages over the prison fence, but that they did not make it over the fence,” Harp wrote in his affidavit.
“I asked Regina what she thought was inside the packages that she was attempting to throw over the prison fence and she said that she thought it was tobacco, but was not for sure,” Harp wrote in his affidavit.
“Regina said that she is from Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and that she met up with another female that she only knows as ‘Jensi’ in Tahlequah today at about 1300 hours (1 p.m.) and that they drove up here to the prison and that she was dropped off to throw the packages over the fence.
“Regina said that she was told that she was going to get some money for throwing the packages over the fence. I asked Regina if she knew whom the packages were for and she said no,” Harp wrote in his affidavit.
Correctional Officer Kristina Hardgrave said “she was leaving work when she observed Regina in beween zone five and six in all-black clothing attempting to throw items over the fence. C/O Hardgrave said that she rolled down her car window and hollered for Regina to stop.
“C/O Hardgrave said that C/O (Catherine) Campbell was also in her car and observed what had happened as well. C/O Hardgrave said that Regina was carrying a black backpack and was placed into investigative detention until the police arrived,” the affidavit said.
“Correctional Officer (Taryn) Miller said that she observed Regina with a black sweatshirt and black pants walking alongside of the road on the prison property. C/O Miller said that Regina was detained and that she took Regina’s black backpack that she had, along with her cellphone that she broke before she got the cellphone.
“C/O Miller said that she along with C/O Hardgrave walked over to the fence area and picked up the items that Regina attempted to throw over the fence,” the affidavit said.
Since Ballard was charged with three counts of bringing contraband onto the prison grounds, she could have been given as much as an eight-year prison term and fined $4,000, according to court documents filed by First Assistant District Attorney Tyson Branyan.
In other cases regarding the Cushing prison that were recently filed by the District Attorney’s Office, four out-of-town women, whose court dates have not yet been set, were charged with bringing drugs into the Cimarron Correctional Facility:
* Natasha R. Johnson, 22, of Oklahoma City, alleged to have had marijuana at the prison on Feb. 17;
* Heather Dawn Adams, 22, of Tulsa, alleged to have had methamphetamine, marijuana and alprazolam at the prison on Jan. 18;
* Celestine Leola Moreland, 57, of Langley, alleged to have had marijuana at the prison on Jan. 18, when she also allegedly had adderall and alprazolam in her possession;
* Jessie Joann Potts, 31, of Muskogee, alleged to have had marijuana and alprazolam at the prison on Jan. 18.
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