A letter hidden inside a Bible led to the arrest of two men accused of mailing synthetic drugs into the Otsego County Correctional Facility last year.

The Otsego County Sheriff's Office announced the arrests on Thursday, according to a news release reported by The Daily Star. Corrections staff intercepted the suspicious letter, which described the receipt of contraband sent through legal mail to Jordan Gutierrez-Champen, 28, an inmate at the county jail.

A Bible, a Search Warrant, and K2

Sheriff's investigators worked with United States Postal Inspectors on the case. Investigators obtained a search warrant for Gutierrez-Champen's incoming mail.

They found a page that had been saturated with a controlled substance. The substance was later identified as K2, a synthetic cannabinoid commonly known as Spice.

"Corrections staff intercepted a letter hidden in a Bible which described the receipt of contraband via legal mail to Jordan Gutierrez-Champen, 28, an inmate incarcerated in the county jail," according to the Sheriff's Office news release.

Two Taken Into Custody

Both suspects were taken into custody last week and faced charges for their alleged roles in the drug smuggling.

  • Alexander Gutierrez, 39, of Gaylord, was taken into custody on Wednesday, May 27. He was processed at the Sheriff's Office and appeared in Centralized Arrangement, where he was released on his own recognition.
  • Jordan Gutierrez-Champen was taken into custody on Thursday, May 28. He was released from the Lakeview Correctional Facility in Chautauqua County, New York, and transported to the Otsego County Sheriff's Office. He was held in the correctional facility to await Centralized Arrangement.

Charges Filed

Both men were charged with:

  • First-degree introducing dangerous contraband into prison, a Class D felony
  • Fifth-degree conspiracy, a Class A misdemeanor

The case highlights the ongoing challenge of keeping contraband out of county jails. Legal mail is a protected right for inmates, but it also creates opportunities for those attempting to smuggle drugs into correctional facilities.

The Otsego County Sheriff's Office did not specify what charges Gutierrez-Champen was serving at Lakeview Correctional Facility in New York at the time of his arrest.

Both cases remain active as they move through the court system.

By David Mitchell, The Kalamazoo Press