Alleged traffickers appear in court
GREENCASTLE -- Two women accused of trafficking with inmates at the Putnam County Correctional Facility were arraigned Monday in Putnam County Circuit Court.
Amber Lea Edmond, 30 and Wanda Latham, 54, both of Indianapolis are both charged with two counts of Class C felony and one count of Class A misdemeanor trafficking with an inmate.
The charges against the women are unrelated.
Edmond has retained Steven Geller of Indianapolis to represent her. Her bond was set at $20,000 with 10 percent allowed.
Both women were ordered to have no contact with anyone at Putnamville Correction Facility, and pretrial conferences for both were set for Feb. 7.
Bond in the amount of $2,005 was posted for Edmond on Tuesday, and she was released from jail. As of late Tuesday afternoon, Latham remained lodged at the Putnam County Jail.
The women were arrested Thursday.
According to a release from the Putnamville Correctional Facility, Edmond was found during a routine pat down search before a visit with an inmate to be in possession of three cell phones, three cell phone chargers, one SIM card, one cell phone battery, tobacco and marijuana.
Edmond was at the prison to visit Antwan Person, the release said. Person is serving a sentence for Class B felony dealing in cocaine, and has a projected release date of July 12, 2014.
Latham was arrested as she tried to gain entrance to the prison to visit her son, Jason Latham, who is serving a sentence for Class D felony firearm possesion and is slated to be released from custody on Dec. 24, 2013.
Prison officials became aware of Latham's intent to traffic with her son when she visited him previously, the release said.
When Latham came to the facility on Thursday, she "was approached by correctional police officer Lt. Troy Keith for questioning."
When Latham was questioned, she gave officers one bag of tobacco, two bags of marijuana weighing 30.3 grams and 19 strips of Suboxone (a semi-synthetic opioid that is used to treat opioid addiction in higher dosages and to control moderate pain in non-opioid tolerant individuals in lower dosages).
"Keith then placed Latham under arrest for the possession of a controlled substance and attempting to traffic with an offender," the release said.
Latham had brought her 3-year-old granddaughter to the facility. Child Protective Services was called to retrieve the child, who was later released into the custody of her mother.
Class C felonies are punishable by a maximum prison sentence of eight years.
Putnamville Superintendent Bruce Lemmon commended his staff for its due diligence, which resulted in the identification and confiscation of this contraband.
Indiana Department of Correction Commissioner Edwin G. Buss also offered his appreciation to staff for thwarting this attempt to violate and jeopardize the security of the facility.