A Dyer County grand jury on Wednesday, April 16, handed up indictments accusing two people of running a Suboxone smuggling and distribution scheme inside the Dyer County Jail. The filings name Layla Moorman and inmate trustee Douglas Deason, piling up a total of 56 counts between them, with prosecutors alleging a coordinated effort to move the drug into the facility. Local authorities set a bond for each defendant at $100,000.
According to a press release from the Dyer County Sheriff’s Office, Moorman faces 25 counts, and Deason faces 31. The charges include multiple counts of introducing contraband into a penal facility, criminal conspiracy, sale or delivery of a Schedule III controlled substance (Suboxone), possession of contraband, and money laundering. Investigators began looking into contraband moving through the jail months before the grand jury met, and officials say items were intercepted well ahead of the indictments.
How Investigators Say the Scheme Worked
Authorities allege Moorman acted as the outside supplier while Deason, identified as a jail trustee at the time of the alleged offenses, helped move narcotics inside the facility. In the sheriff’s account, investigators "intercepted contraband entering the Dyer County Jail months before the indictment" and uncovered evidence of both smuggling and distribution within the lockup. Sheriff Jeff Box used the release to thank investigators, jail staff and the district attorney general’s office for their roles in bringing the case to a grand jury.
A Pattern Officials Say Has Surfaced Elsewhere
Local reporting and law enforcement releases around Tennessee describe similar smuggling tactics in other county jails, including incidents where staff or visitors allegedly hid Suboxone in books or Bibles to get the drug past security. Coverage of a June 2025 Monroe County case, for example, details how officers and inmates were charged after Suboxone was found concealed inside a Bible. Buprenorphine products such as Suboxone are classified as Schedule III controlled substances by the Drug Enforcement Administration, which makes unauthorized possession or distribution in a correctional setting a serious criminal offense.
What Comes Next
The indictments are formal accusations, not findings of guilt, and both defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court. The sheriff’s office statement highlighted the $100,000 bond for each defendant and noted that prosecutors will now handle the next steps in Dyer County courts as the case moves forward.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the investigation to contact the Dyer County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s announcement is linked above for readers who want to review the full release.
