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Deputies find heroin in Bible

Two people are accused of trying to smuggle heroin into the Hamilton County Justice Center in a Bible. 

Chief Deputy Mark Schoonover says the Bible was sent to the jail in mid December, and like all mail, it was searched.

A Sheriff’s K-9 indicated the presence of narcotics on the Bible; and deputies took a closer look.  On page 419 and 420, in the Book of Daniel, they noticed a light brown stain, about the size of a half dollar.

Schoonover says deputies cut a small piece of the page out and had it tested.  The results of the test were positive for heroin. 

39 year old Tehani Teepe allegedly sent the Bible to 28 year old Timothy King while he was an inmate.  Both are charged with illegal conveyance of contraband into a correctional facility, a 3rd degree felony.  That is punishable by up to five years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.  Schoonover says more charges are possible.

Sheriff Jim Neil says inmates are going to great lengths to smuggle contraband into the jail. 

“Now you get a glimpse into how created and determined these individuals really are as we see a Bible laced with heroin,” he says.

Schoonover says they believe had the smuggling effort been successful, inmates would have torn the heroin stained page into tiny fragments and injested them.  Investigators believe the stain held about 30 to 40 hits of heroin, and if taken all together, it would have been lethal.