Source: US FBI
ST. LOUIS – Three people, including a former inmate and a former jail employee, have admitted smuggling methamphetamine and fentanyl into the Lincoln County, Missouri jail.
Kevin Childers Jr., 37, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Monday to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine. Steven Williamson Jr., 36, and Brittany Spangler, 35, pleaded guilty to the same charge, Williamson in May and Spangler in March.
Williamson was a jail inmate and trustee at the time of the crime and worked in the kitchen. Spangler was his girlfriend. Childers ran the jail kitchen as a contract employee. All three were active in the drug scene in Lincoln County, their plea agreements say.
All three admitted conspiring to smuggle fentanyl and meth into the jail from June 27, 2022, through Oct. 6, 2022. Spangler and Childers exchanged multiple phone calls between Sept. 24, 2022, and Oct. 2, 2022. Beginning at the latest in the first week of October, Williamson obtained a cell phone from a former jail trustee. He used it to ask Spangler to obtain fentanyl and meth and then told her to give the drugs to Childers to smuggle into the jail. They repeatedly discussed obtaining drugs and the payment for the drugs in text messages.
On Oct. 6, 2022, Lincoln County jail officials were alerted to a contraband cell phone in the trustee pod. A search found the phone and a piece of paper with Childers’ phone number and first name. Williamson had a sock in his pants containing a clear baggie with 9.87 grams of meth and two capsules containing fentanyl.
Childers is scheduled to be sentenced on October 1. Spangler’s sentencing is set for July and Williamson’s for August.
The crime is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine or both a prison term and fine.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Krug is prosecuting the case.