Muscogee County inmates used Church’s Chicken box and Walmart bag to smuggle marijuana, cops say
Muscogee County Jail inmates picked up bags of marijuana equaling over 400 grams while on a recent garbage detail, according to testimony Friday afternoon in Recorder’s Court.
Taurean Steele, Luis Gutierrez, Robert Keene and Joe Wallace all appeared for the 2 p.m. hearing.
Steele, 35, is charged with felony items prohibited for possession by inmates and felony possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
The other three men, all on the garbage detail, were each charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute/items prohibited for possession by inmates.
Around 6 p.m. March 10, Agent Ken Culverson of the Columbus Police Department was called out to the Muscogee County Prison, he testified. There he met Deputy Chief Warden Sherman Thomas and was told about an incident that occurred at the Pine Grove Landfill at 7900 Pine Grove Way.
According to Culverson, a corrections officer observed a bag being thrown out of the back of a garbage truck that Steele was driving. The officer watched Keene advance towards the bag, look into it and attempt to hide the contents of it.
The officer confiscated the bag from Keene, which contained 100 grams of marijuana. Shortly after the incident, all four men were taken back to the prison to be questioned, Culverson said.
An investigation revealed another bag of marijuana on the truck containing 310 grams, bringing the total number of grams to 410.2 grams, a street value of $4,102, Culverson said. Steele said he was unaware of any marijuana being passed between either party, or that it was even inside of the truck.
During police interview, Gutierrez said that a large amount of marijuana was removed from the trash at a Columbus home. The marijuana was hidden inside of vacuum sealed bag inside of a Church’s Chicken box, as well as inside of a Walmart bag, according to Culverson.
Gutierrez also said Wallace had it inside of the vehicle with the intent to “bless” another inmate at the prison, which means to give it to somebody to smoke, Culverson said. When Wallace was later interviewed by police he essentially told the same story, with Gutierrez as the perpetrator.
After further testimony, Judge Julius Hunter set the bond for Steele at $30,000, while the rest of the inmates had their bonds set at $10,000 for each charge.
Hunter said that Steele was held at a higher standard than the inmates and chose to become involved in smuggling activity, and therefore set his bond higher than the other three charged.