Investigation points to Everett woman in prison drug plot

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, December 10, 2003

An Everett woman has been charged with helping an inmate from Edmonds sneak drugs into the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac through an unusual scheme — paper laced with methamphetamine.

Kristina Landry allegedly soaked heavy cotton bond paper with diluted meth, then fashioned it to look like a greeting card, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

The meth-laced paper was mailed to a man held on a federal firearms charge, who allegedly sold 2-inch-by-3-inch squares of the paper to other inmates for $35 a square, court documents say. Inmates then would eat the paper to get high.

Drug Enforcement Administration investigators believe the 28-year-old Edmonds man, who has not been charged, orchestrated the scheme. The inmate is suspected of arranging for a $300 money order to be sent to his father, who lives in Edmonds, court documents say. Investigators discovered the plan through an informant.

The inmate told his father on Nov. 4 that he expected to get $300 for his birthday, and told his dad to "give half of it to Kristy to pay for the broken glass," court documents say, citing a tape recording of the conversation.

Investigators believe the inmate used the word glass, slang for methamphetamine, as a code word to avoid detection by prison officials.

The inmate told a woman, who investigators allege was Landry, on Nov. 6 that his father had money for her to put "toward the glass that got broken," court documents say. He also asked her to send him some pictures, and the woman agreed.

On Nov. 9 the inmate spoke to a man at the same phone number as the woman in the Nov. 6 conversation. The man said he had received $170 from the inmate’s father for a broken glass, according to court records. The inmate also called the same number Nov. 19 and 21 and discussed mail.

The inmate’s father could not be reached for comment at his home Wednesday.

The prison intercepted a letter Nov. 21 containing a piece of white paper with a drawing on one side, court documents say. The paper tested positive for methamphetamine.

Landry was arrested at her home Dec. 5. Investigators found a small amount of meth there, according to the complaint.

She was charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, using the mail to distribute meth and attempting to introduce contraband into a federal detention facility.

She was released to a halfway house Tuesday and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Dec. 19, U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Lawrence Lincoln said.

Officials from the Federal Detention Center declined comment because the drug-smuggling scheme is still under investigation.

Reporter Katherine Schiffner: 425-339-3436 or schiffner@heraldnet.com.