Guard Accused of Smuggling Meth Into Minnesota Prison
Stillwater, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Minnesota prison guard has been charged with smuggling drugs into Stillwater State Prison.
A criminal complaint filed this week in Washington County Court alleges 24-year-old Faith Rose Gratz was caught in possession of roughly a half-pound of methamphetamine after she arrived for work at the state prison on the morning of April 8th. The drugs were found in a plastic bag under a rear seat in her vehicle in the prison parking lot.
The search of her vehicle was conducted by Bayport Police in connection with an investigation that was launched after an inmate at the Stillwater State Prison was caught with a cell phone in early April. According to the complaint, investigators with the Minnesota Department of Corrections learned the St. Paul woman had allegedly supplied the inmate with the phone, which contained several drug-related messages between her and the inmate.
The court documents say one of the messages indicated the inmate had arranged for Gratz to "pick up a half-pound of M's" from one of the inmate's contacts outside the prison. The exchange of messages between the two also included discussions about Gratz bringing the drugs to the prison when she reported for work on April 8 or April 9. Following her arrest, the complaint says Gratz told investigators she had delivered about a half dozen packages to the inmate over the past four months. She also stated that she was initially unaware of the package's contents but admitted she later learned they contained narcotics.
Gratz is charged with two first-degree drug counts. One for drug sales and the other for possession. Her conditional bail has been set at $75,000 and she is scheduled to return to court on May 11th.