Inmate accused of hiding crack
An inmate is accused of bringing six grams of crack cocaine into the Butler County Prison.
County detectives and Butler Township police both have felony cases against 41-year-old Sanya L. Vantassel.
The Butler Township woman is in the Butler County Prison on $35,000 bail.
Police said they found the defendant shortly before 1 a.m. Jan. 23 riding in a vehicle that they pulled over for a traffic stop.
Vantassel gave police a bogus name, according to court documents, that turned out to be an alias. Police learned that she was wanted on a bench warrant.
Police said there were plastic baggies in the car and that Vantassel had a digital scale and hundreds of dollars of currency in her purse. The purse allegedly had “white powder residue” on it.
She was taken to the county prison, where a corrections officer searched her and allegedly found more money hidden in her bra.
In all, documents said, she had more than $600 in small denominations. She was also eventually alleged to have been found with a crack pipe.
Because of the findings, Vantassel was placed in the prison's dry cell, where inmates can't dispose of illicit drugs undetected.
Prisoners do not have access to running toilets. Instead, they are provided with a portable potty.
Eventually, correctional officers inspect any expelled waste for drugs. In Vantassel's case, documents said, the officers found about six grams of crack that was wrapped in a plastic bag.
Tim Fennell, the county's chief detective, said the defendant admitted during an interview Thursday that she hid the drugs in a body cavity as police were making the traffic stop that led to her arrest.
On Friday, police charged Vantassel with felony and misdemeanor drug possession. Later the same day, detectives charged her with bringing contraband into the prison and possession of a controlled substance by an inmate, both felonies.
She was arraigned Monday on the charges filed by the county detectives. Authorities said she is to be arraigned Tuesday on the Butler Township police charges.
