ST AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- A drug smuggling operation has been busted inside the St Johns County Jail. The St Johns County Sheriff's Office confirms to Action News two women have been arrested and are being charged with possession of drugs, producing drugs and smuggling contraband.
Chelsey Camerone appeared before a judge Thursday morning for her first appearance. Her cohort, Hana Colson already had her first appearance.
According to the Sheriff's Office, sometime in the last month an employee at the jail noticed an inmate appeared "drunk."
The Sheriff's Office did some investigating and found a large quantity of mail in that inmate's cell.
They were able to determine that Camerone was putting Suboxne on the back of stamps, sending them to jail, and the inmates were licking the stamps to get high.
Suboxne is a form of methadone used to wean people off other drugs. Police tell Action News Colson was on the inside handing out the drug-laced stamps to inmates.
Police found that 22 female inmates tested positive for the drug. Colson is the only person being charged on the inside. The other 21 inmates will get an extra ten days tacked on to their current sentences.
Action News has also learned one of the 22 women who tested positive for the drug is the woman known as "Party Mom." Diane Santarelli was convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and hosting an open house party. Teenagers Taylor Brennan and Jessy Pitts died in a crash after leaving the party at her house.
The Sheriff's Office has enhanced mail screening protocol since the incident.
"This situation was obviously observed, addressed, investigated, individuals arrested for it and at this point obviously the protocol has been increased to the point where the mails going to be strictly and very meticulously searched before it goes anywhere inside the facility," Chuck Mulligan with St Johns County Sheriff's Office told Action News.
