A 46-year-old Woodburn woman is accused of soaking paper documents in fentanyl and methamphetamine and mailing them to people locked up in Oregon jails, disguising the packages as legal correspondence from attorney offices. Stacie Rae Price now faces three felony charges after a multi-month investigation into alleged smuggling targeting correctional facilities in at least two counties.
According to KGW, the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office says Price allegedly smuggled fentanyl and methamphetamine into multiple Oregon correctional facilities by soaking paper documents and mailing them as purported legal mail to people in custody. The case traces back to August, when the sheriff's office Street Crimes and Narcotics Team received information about illegal narcotics sales in the county, kicking off a monthslong investigation that detectives say ultimately led them to Price.
Investigators learned that Price was allegedly smuggling drugs into facilities including jails in Yamhill and Marion counties, with the mailed paper made to appear as though it originated from attorney offices — the kind of mail jails typically handle with less scrutiny because of inmates' legal rights. Scan team investigators intercepted multiple pieces of suspected contraband, and testing of that intercepted paper came back positive for methamphetamine and fentanyl, per the sheriff's office.
Search Warrant Turns Up Packaged Drugs at Woodburn Home
The investigation culminated on November 3, when the Street Crimes and Narcotics Team and partner agencies served search warrants at Price's home in Woodburn. Investigators reported finding evidence consistent with packaging, preparation, and distribution of narcotics and introduction of contraband into correctional facilities, the sheriff's office said.
The seizure was substantial: investigators reported recovering approximately 80.6 grams of methamphetamine, 36.3 grams of fentanyl, 52.2 grams of cocaine and eight Xanax pills. Before the November 3 searches, a Yamhill County grand jury approved a secret indictment charging Price with three felonies — unlawful delivery of fentanyl, unlawful delivery of methamphetamine, and supplying contraband.
Price was arrested and arraigned in Yamhill County Circuit Court, booked at the Yamhill County Jail, and made her first court appearance Friday. She was granted supervised release after posting $3,000 bail, according to court records cited by the station. The sheriff's office said additional charges may be considered as the investigation continues and evidence is reviewed by the county district attorney's office.
A Known Weak Point in Jail Mail Screening
Price's case fits a pattern that corrections officials in Oregon have struggled to contain. An analysis of Oregon Department of Corrections data found that the rate of positive drug tests among prisoners had more than doubled since 2020, according to Corrections1. The same reporting noted that Oregon prison mailrooms processed 1.6 million pieces of mail in the year examined, and that mailroom workers only catch about half of the drugs entering prisons through the mail.
Other jurisdictions have tried different fixes for the same problem. In Chatham County, Georgia, officials began uploading most physical mail to an electronic system for inmates to read, excluding legal mail from that process, Corrections1 reported. Marion County Jail in Indiana took a different approach in 2021, moving to photocopy legal mail and give inmates copies while staff examined the originals for drugs, after the sheriff's office there said it had examined more than 20 cases involving drug-soaked fake legal mail the previous year, according to WFYI. That reporting described fake mail made to look like legal documents and soaked with substances including the prescription opioid replacement drug Suboxone and spice.
The tactic has also surfaced in Louisiana, where reporting on Orleans Parish described an organized contraband-smuggling operation involving Suboxone strips, cigarettes and paper containing a narcotic substance, according to NOLA.com. A separate affidavit in that parish described deputies finding thirteen sheets of white paper emitting a strong odorous substance, consistent with K2 or Mojo, inside an inmate's cell.
Whether Price's case leads to further charges remains to be seen as the Yamhill County District Attorney's Office continues reviewing evidence gathered from the Woodburn search and the mail interceptions that preceded it.
