A Forest City woman is accused of bringing football schedule papers saturated with cannabinoids into a state prison where she worked.
Julianna Morse, 40, faces felony charges of bringing contraband into the State Correctional Institution at Waymart and possession with intent to distribute a prohibited substance.
Morse allegedly made her way into the building with the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers paperwork laden with the controlled substance, then tucking the papers into the pocket of an inmate’s shirt as it hung in the facility’s kitchen.
According to the criminal complaint:
On Oct. 25, prison officials became aware that Morse, a food service instructor, was bringing contraband into the correctional facility.
Investigators reviewed inmate telephone calls and found that on Oct. 1, an inmate called a third party and asked that person to print the Steelers schedule on “the first one” and the Eagles schedule on “the second one,” so he could distinguish one from the other.
On Oct. 2, an inmate spoke with a third party who said in order to provide him with the papers, she needed to go to her friend’s house. The inmate encouraged her to “keep it rolling” because they were getting up to $2,000 a month.
On Oct. 7, an inmate made a phone call, saying that the inmates wanted the “Pittsburgh jawn” rather than the “Eagles jawn,” because it was better quality.
On Oct. 8, a corrections officer found a piece of a Steelers football schedule that he suspected was soaked in synthetic cannabinoids, which he marked as evidence and provided to the forensic laboratory of the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office.
On Oct. 17, Agent Steven Bear of the PA Department of Corrections interviewed Morse, who admitted bringing three pieces of paper containing the football schedules for the Steelers and Eagles into the correctional institute on Oct. 6.
Morse said she tucked the three pieces of paper into an inmate’s shirt as it hung in the kitchen.
Bear then interviewed an inmate who said he received $950 in payment for the papers soaked in the drug.
On Oct. 19, the Cumberland County DA’s forensic laboratory determined the material had been soaked in a synthetic cannabinoid.
Morse is charged with possession of contraband at a state correctional facility, possession with intent to deliver and related charges. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Jan. 7 before District Judge Jonathan J. Dunsinger.