ROCKLAND, Maine — Two women were arrested last week, accused of trying to smuggle drugs into the Maine State Prison.
Katlyn Graciale, 28, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, was charged with Class B trafficking in Suboxone; and Katie Clarke, also known as Katie Matthews, 27, of Rockland was charged with Class B aggravated conspiracy to traffick in Suboxone as well as violating her probation, according to the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.
Graciale was released from the Knox County Jail on $1,500 bail. Clarke made her initial appearance Monday in Rockland District Court where bail was set at $1,000 cash on the drug charge, but she was ordered held without bail on the probation violation.
For the past month, agents from the MDEA Mid-Coast District Task Force and investigators from the Maine State Prison Investigation Division conducted a probe into the illegal smuggling of Suboxone into the prison in Warren. The investigation revealed that Graciale would bring the Suboxone strips to Maine from Massachusetts, according to the MDEA.
Graciale and Clarke would package the drugs in preparation for Graciale to smuggle them into the prison during an inmate visit, according to the MDEA, and Graciale was to give the strips to an inmate who would then sell them to other prisoners.
Graciale was arrested Friday when she arrived at the prison along with her 10-year-old daughter, according to an affidavit filed by the MDEA. A search of Graciale’s hotel room in Rockland found 38 Suboxone strips, according to the court document.
Agents arrested Clarke at her Camden Street residence in Rockland.
Suboxone strips can be bought on the street for about $10 to $20 each, whereas in the state prison, they are sold for about $300 to $600 each, according to the MDEA.
Other troopers and deputies from the Knox County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the investigation.
Additional arrests are expected as the investigation continues.