CARLISLE — Two women are behind bars following a failed attempt to smuggle narcotics into a maximum-security state prison on Tuesday, officials reported.
According to administrators at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, 26-year-old Cierah Schlumpf and 26-year-old Haley Crowe were detained by prison internal affairs investigators immediately after passing through the facility’s main visitor processing checkpoint.
Authorities state that intelligence or suspicious behavior prompted correctional staff to pull both women aside for targeted interviews just as they cleared security to enter the visitation area.
During the interrogation, Schlumpf was found to be hiding illicit contraband. Realizing she had been caught, she relinquished the hidden items to prison investigators. A subsequent field test of the contraband revealed it contained both cocaine and an unspecified narcotic drug.
As the investigation unfolded, Crowe was interviewed separately. Investigators say Crowe ultimately confessed to her role in the smuggling plot, admitting that she had personally procured the illegal drugs and handed them over to Schlumpf specifically to be brought inside the facility for an inmate.
Both women were taken into custody by local law enforcement and transported to the county jail. They now face serious felony charges. Cierah Schlumpf faces preliminary charges of trafficking with an inmate, possession of cocaine, and possession of a narcotic drug. Haley Crowe faces a preliminary charge of trafficking with an inmate.
Trafficking contraband into an Indiana state correctional facility carries severe penalties, often resulting in mandatory prison time. The Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) maintains a zero-tolerance policy for visitors attempting to introduce narcotics into institutions, noting that such substances severely compromise the safety of both correctional staff and the offender population.
The investigation remains ongoing to determine which inmate was the intended recipient of the narcotics.
