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WILKES-BARRE — Tennis balls, hollowed-out rocks and eyeglasses have been used to smuggle narcotics into the Luzerne County Correctional Facility.
The latest alleged scheme involved a slingshot.
Kayshawn Amir George, 18, of Academy Street, Plymouth, and Susan T. Shaffer, 39, of North Sherman Street, Wilkes-Barre, were arrested Monday after they were caught using a slingshot to propel a package of marijuana into the exercise yard intended for John Mosier, 35, an inmate, according to court records.
Court records say county detectives received information that an attempt would be made at about 1 p.m. Monday that Shaffer was conspiring with Mosier to get a controlled substance into the facility using a slingshot to shoot over the walls and fences.
Surveillance was set up around the facility when George and Shaffer parked near a Chinese restaurant and walked up the road to the former juvenile detention building on North River Street, court records say.
George and Shaffer were allegedly observed walking behind the juvenile detention building that faces the rear of the correctional facility.
Shaffer gave George a package that he placed in a slingshot he used to propel the package at about 1:15 p.m., court records say.
Detectives arrested Shaffer and George when they returned to their vehicle.
Court records say Shaffer had two packages and George had a package and a slingshot in their possessions, court records say.
Shaffer and George were arraigned by District Judge Joseph Halesey of Hanover Township on charges of possession of a controlled substance/contraband for an inmate and possession of a controlled substance. George was jailed at the county correctional facility for lack of $250,000 bail and Shaffer was jailed for lack of $50,000 bail.
No charges have been filed against Mosier, who is jailed on burglary related charges involving alleged break-ins at service stations in Plains Township and Bear Creek Township.
In 2016, tennis balls and rocks packed with narcotics or tobacco were thrown into the prison yard from the juvenile detention center. In March 2022, two people were charged with smuggling suboxone concealed in eyeglasses into the correctional facility.