COVINGTON, La. (WGNO) — The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office wraps up a month-long investigation that resulted in two people being arrested.
On Thursday, the STPSO announced that 33-year-old Kayla Ann Leary was arrested after she allegedly smuggled drugs into the parish jail through the building’s mailroom. Police also arrested 26-year-old Kevin Corr, an inmate booked in the jail, for conspiring to introduce the drugs into the jail.
Leary and Corr were both charged with Introducing Contraband into a Penal Institution and Criminal Conspiracy.
Investigation efforts began on August 11 when investigators intercepted suspicious packages from Leary to an unlisted inmate in the jail.
The investigation later revealed through phone tracking that Leary and Corr plotted to have multiple packages sent to an unaware inmate living in the same housing dorm as Corr — one of them containing illegal narcotics. However, once the packages made it into the jail, Corr was reportedly supposed to intercept the package that contained the drugs.
While searching for Leary in this incident, police were also seeking her out for questioning in connection to a property crime. A post was made on Facebook to locate Leary as a person of interest, but before police found her, she arrived at the 4th District Station on Monday, September 13th for questioning.
However, things took a turn for the worse when she was made aware of the arrest warrant for the drug smuggling incident. She asked if she could get something from her car in the parking lot, which investigators allowed.
Leary then attempted to jump into her vehicle and close the door on the investigator. She reportedly had to be forcefully removed from her car, but was able to burn the investigator on the arm with a cigarette first.
As she was being transported to the St. Tammany Parish Jail, Leary’s vehicle was searched incidental to the arrest. Police found more than 300 syringes, some containing an unknown substance. They also found suspected marijuana and various other pieces of drug paraphernalia.
Because of the events following her arrival at the station, Leary was also charged with Resisting a police officer with force or violence, Attempted Aggravated Escape, Battery of a Police Officer, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
In a statement following the arrest, Sherrif Randy Smith said:
“If you attempt to introduce any type of illegal substances into the parish jail, you will be appropriately charged and prosecuted. We have a team of experienced and well-trained investigators, who are diligently working daily to investigate crimes affecting the jail, and are doing a great job. Because of their excellent work, two people have been charged and drugs have been kept out of the jail. Let this be a reminder, if you bring drugs, or try to bring drugs into the jail, we will find you and you will be arrested. There is no reason for it and we will not tolerate it.”
ST. TAMMANY PARISH SHERIFF RANDY SMITH
