Drug Smuggle Bid Thwarted By Lasagna Anomaly

JULY 27--A nurse aide responsible for distributing medicine to inmates at an Indiana prison has been charged with trying to smuggle cocaine and marijuana into the facility via a bowl of frozen lasagna, investigators charge.

As alleged in court documents, Regina Davis, 46, arrived for work earlier this month at the Indiana State Prison, where the property of employees (including their lunch or dinner) passes through an X-ray machine before they enter.

The maximum security lockup houses more than 2000 adult male prisoners and is located 45 miles east of Chicago, Illinois.

As Davis’s lasagna moved through the X-ray machine, a guard thought the Italian delicacy “looked odd,” so he sought the opinion of a colleague, who concurred that “something did not appear natural.”

When investigators subsequently dug through the lasagna, they found several packages wrapped in electrical tape that contained coke (about three ounces) and pot (1.7 ounces).

During questioning, Davis (seen at right) claimed she had been at a female friend’s house the prior evening “getting a tattoo” when the woman gave her “two containers of lasagna to eat.” Davis claimed not to know the grub was stuffed with contraband.

It is unclear if the lasagna also contained tiny meatballs.

After Davis reportedly agreed to allow her phone to be searched, investigators found photos of the wrapped drug packages that were taken a day earlier. Her story then changed.

Davis claimed she had been getting calls from unknown numbers from unknown individuals who threatened her safety and that of her brother, who, she said, had just been released from a prison work release program in South Bend.

Davis said she had been instructed to go with “a black guy” to pick up the drugs (some of which she admitted wrapping herself). The narcotics, she added, would be picked up in the prison by an individual who stopped by the “drug room” where she works. The courier would say “they were there to pick up some cream for their feet.”

Despite her compelling explanation of the lasagna caper, Davis was arrested on two felony narcotics trafficking charges. Free on $1500 bond, Davis, who has pleaded not guilty, has been ordered by a judge to appear in court for an August 2 status hearing.

According to Indiana state records, Davis has been licensed as a nurse aide for more than 20 years. She has also been certified as a qualified medication aide after completing “additional training and demonstrated competency while dispensing and passing medications and or applying/administrating treatments.” (2 pages)