Indy woman charged with dealing, trafficking drugs

Thursday, January 22, 2009

An Indianapolis woman has been formally charged with several felonies in connection with a Dec. 30 incident at the Putnamville Correctional Facility.

Tonya Denise Corley, 34, was charged with Class B felony dealing in cocaine, Class C felony trafficking with an inmate, Class D felonies dealing in marijuana, possession of cocaine and possession of marijuana and Class A misdemeanor trafficking with an inmate. If convicted on all charges, she could face as many as 38 years in prison.

Corley is currently lodged at the Putnam County Jail. Putnam County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Headley set her bond at $15,000 cash only, plus a $15,000 surety. She is set for a pretrial conference on Feb. 19.

According to court documents, Corley passed two packages to Putnamville inmate Jeremy Holland during a visit at the prison on Dec. 30. Correctional officers took Holland to a porter's room, where he was stripped and searched. Officers saw Holland remove two packages from the front of his underwear. One of the packages contained "brown plant material with a cell phone and a cell phone charger inside," court documents said, while the second contained "green, leafy plant material."

Corley was detained, and when officers asked if she had any other contraband on her person, she produced a package from her underwear that contained a substance later determined to be tobacco.

Corley told officers she was not romantically involved with Holland, and that she was married to another inmate. She said she had visited Holland three or four times before Dec. 30, but that her husband did not know about it.

"Tonya stated she had spoken with inmate Holland on the phone," court records said. "Inmate Holland had asked her to smuggle the items in. Tonya stated that inmate Holland had paid her $450 in cash for bringing the items in."

Corley told officers Holland had arranged for another person to deliver the tobacco and drugs to her, but that she did not know the person's identity. Corley said all the items had been paid for in advance by Holland.

Corley was then transported to the Putnamville Post of the Indiana State Police. The green leafy substance recovered from Holland tested positive for marijuana, and was found to weigh 56 grams.

While repackaging the recovered tobacco, officers discovered a small plastic bag containing a white, powdery substance. When questioned, Corley denied any knowledge of the small package.

The substance was tested and found to be cocaine.

When officers ran a criminal history on Corley, it was discovered that she also went by the last names Robertson and Allmon. Officers also found that an active warrant for Corley's arrest existed in Michigan City.

Holland, 22, is serving time for a conspiracy to commit armed robbery conviction out of Delaware County. He was sentenced to 10 years on Nov. 8, 2007, and has a projected release date of Sept. 19, 2013 according to information at the Indiana Department of Corrections Web site.

No criminal charges have been filed against Holland, but information has been forwarded to Putnam County Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter for review, court documents said.

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  • $450,, wow, that is a lot of cash. The last person caught was in it for only $50! This gals' timing is terrible. Trafficking only gets a slap in November and December.

    -- Posted by Xgamer on Thu, Jan 22, 2009, at 6:06 AM
  • Holland needs to be charged as well. This is another example that ISF officers are doing a good job at the farm. Even though they are always so short staffed compared to the number of offenders housed there. But, putnam county will just give a slap on the wrist as usual.

    -- Posted by peace2019 on Thu, Jan 22, 2009, at 6:22 AM
  • Wonder how he is making that kind of cash behind bars?dont they usually get like a dollar a day for work in there?

    -- Posted by honestyisbestpolicy on Thu, Jan 22, 2009, at 8:23 AM
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