Ludington man charged with smuggling meth into jail.

Lopez

Ludington man charged with smuggling meth into county jail.

#MasonCountyCrime.

LUDINGTON — An inmate at the Mason County Jail has been charged with six felony drug counts after it was discovered that he allegedly had concealed methamphetamine while being admitted into the jail and then allegedly distributed it while incarcerated, according to Sheriff Kim Cole.

Timothy Allen Lopez, 25, of 603 S. Washington Ave., had been arrested on May 27, 2019 by Ludington Police Department on felony possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine/ecstasy).

Cole said during a routing contact with Lopez on May 29, at 12:36 p.m., corrections deputies at the jail discovered he was under the influence of drugs.

“This inmate had been incarcerated for a considerable time so it was suspected the drugs had been ingested during his stay at the county jail,” Cole said. “Corrections deputies immediately locked the jail down and eight additional deputies were called in to conduct a thorough search. “

“During a search of the jail, and inmates, Lopez was found to be in possession of meth, which he had allegedly smuggled into the jail concealed in his privates a day earlier when he was arrested on multiple warrants,” Cole said. “Inmates Lopez had contact with were also drug tested and three tested positive for meth.  Detectives believe Lopez provided those inmates with meth.”

On Friday, June 14, 2019 MCSO detectives swore to a six-count felony drug warrant for Lopez.  At the time of the issuance of the warrant Lopez was, and is currently, an inmate of the Mason County Jail.

Lopez has been arraigned in 79th District Court on three counts of delivery/manufacturing methamphetamine, a felony punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment and/or $25,000 fine;  controlled substance possession, methamphetamine, a felony punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and/or $15,000 fine; prisoner in possession of contraband (methamphetamine), a felony punishable by up to five years imprisonment and/or $1,000 fine; furnishing contraband to prisoners, a five year felony punishable by up to five years imprisonment and/or $1,000 fine. He also faces charges of habitual offender, fourth offense.

The charges are in addition to his previous charges. Bail was set at $100,000 cash/surety.

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