A local woman who tried to smuggle drugs into jail earlier this year was sentenced to four years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty in Garland County Circuit Court.
Michelle Ann Hines, 30, who listed a Keepsake Lane address at the time of her arrest, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance, meth, punishable by up to six years in prison, and was sentenced to four years and ordered to pay $315 in court costs. Additional felony counts of furnishing prohibited articles and failure to appear were withdrawn.
Hines was previously convicted on Oct. 9, 2018, in Garland County on a felony charge of possession of drug paraphernalia and sentenced to four years' supervised probation.
According to court records and the probable cause affidavit, on Feb. 6, Hines was arrested for failure to comply with a court order and booked into the Garland County Detention Center.
Around noon that day, Garland County sheriff's Deputy Rebecca Reeves asked Hines to step into the booking dress-out room to prepare her to be assigned to a housing unit. While in the process of removing her clothes, Reeves noted Hines appeared to be evasive about removing her bra and then she put her hand inside her bra and turned away.
Reeves asked her if she was hiding something in her hand and Hines revealed a small plastic baggie that contained 1.4 grams of what later tested positive for meth. When asked what it was at the time, Hines reportedly said, "It's supposed to be meth" and "I was planning on flushing it."
The meth was seized and turned over to agents with the 18th Judicial District East Drug Task Force and Hines was charged on March 7 with felony counts of possession and furnishing prohibited articles.
She was released on a $5,000 bond on March 20 and then failed to appear for her arraignment in Garland County District Court on May 4. She was arrested again on May 13 and had remained in custody since then.