INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A county jail inmate and his girlfriend are facing charges after deputies said they conspired to smuggle paper laced with ecstasy into the facility. Deputies received a tip that the pair was trying to disguise the narcotics as legal mail, officials said.
Alexander Gary McKay
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY INDIAN RIVER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Alexander Gary McKay, 27, who was already in custody at the Indian River County Jail, was charged Oct. 21 with unlawful use of a two-way communications device, introduction of contraband into a detention facility and two counts of sale and delivery of narcotics. McKay remained held Wednesday at the county jail without bond.
McKay’s girlfriend, who is from the Miami area, has a warrant for the same charges, sheriff’s officials said.
In mid-August, new technology at the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office alerted deputies that an inmate was possibly trying to sneak drugs into the jail, officials said. Deputies said they learned that McKay and his girlfriend were planning on converting narcotics into drug-infused paper and make it appear as legal mail.
“As the fake legal mail arrived, it was immediately intercepted by our team and sent to the local crime lab where it tested positive for MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy),” sheriff’s officials said in a statement. “Fingerprints from the mail were also recovered which led to the positive identification of Ammon.”
McKay has an arraignment at 8:45 a.m. Dec. 2, court records show. Deputies continue to search for McKay’s girlfriend.