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Jail body scanner turned up contraband; city police charge inmate

2 min read
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City police this week charged a Mon Valley resident with hiding contraband that was revealed by a recently installed device at Washington County jail.

Angelina Victoria Gates, 32, of Crest Avenue, Charleroi, arrived at the jail Jan. 30 on a parole detainer filed by the adult probation department and entered the jail as a new commitment.

Gates went through a body scanner at the jail, and was informed it detected possible contraband in a body cavity in a digital image.

According to an affidavit filed by police, Gates told a corrections officer she had pills she would remove in a shower room and turn over.

Inside a balloon that was placed in a jewelry pouch were 18 caffeine pills and 2½ pills containing a painkiller. Gates did not have permission to bring the pills into the jail from a physician, warden or superintendent, according to police.

Police charged Gates Tuesday with having contraband other than a controlled substance and filed it with District Judge Robert Redlinger.

Warden Edward Strawn reported earlier this month to the county prison board the body scanner has turned up three kinds of contraband since it was installed late last year and then passed inspection and re-inspection by the state Department of Environmental Protection, which regulates devices that use radiation.

Gates remains an inmate at the jail, where she was one of 76 female inmates as January ended.

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