VIRGINIA WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO INTRODUCING METHAMPHETAMINE INTO FEDERAL PRISON

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA - Ashley Mullins, 40, of Appalachia, Virginia, pleaded guilty in federal court to introducing methamphetamine into the Tallahassee Federal Correctional Institution (FCI). The plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: "The introduction of contraband into a federal prison poses a safety threat to correctional officers and the inmates housed at the facility. I applaud the excellent work of the federal officers in this case who intercepted these deadly drugs the defendant was attempting to smuggle into prison, as well as the successful prosecution by my office to ensure the smuggler is held accountable for her crime."

According to court records, the defendant was detected by a Bureau of Prisons officer walking with an object bulging in her pocket. The officer directed the defendant to empty her pockets and discovered several contraband items, including a crystal substance and a crystal powder substance in a bag. Later forensic testing confirmed the substances were methamphetamine.

Mullins faces up to twenty-years' imprisonment and three years of supervised release when she is sentenced.

The case involved a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Prisons Special Investigative Services Unit. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Eric Welch.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation's principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit theU.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.