Judge certifies narcotics dropoffs

STAUNTON — The situation seemed suspect: a discarded Doritos bag filled with pills and cigarettes.

Cameras at Middle River Regional Jail in Verona stared at the bag for hours. That’s when things unraveled for a Stuarts Draft pair, authorities said.

An Augusta County judge Thursday certified to grand jury charges of delivering drugs to a prisoner against William Michael Campbell II, 31, and Ellen Michelle Hammer, 33, in what authorities described as a drug-dropoff scheme. The judge dismissed conspiracy charges when prosecutors failed to prove the pair designed the scheme.

On the night of Aug. 6, a jail officer saw a car enter the jail parking lot, make a U-turn and immediately exit, jail Lt. R.B. Moubray said.

Officers searched the grass near the car’s travel path and found the contraband bag. Instead of destroying items, as officers frequently do, they returned the bag to its place and began surveillance.

Authorities, connecting the dots of the scheme, watched as then-inmate Campbell scooped up the bag while on trash duty, authorities said. Days after the drop, Moubray tracked down Hammer, accused of being Campbell’s accomplice.

“She said she had no knowledge of a package being delivered,” Moubray testified.

But a review of hundreds of jail phone calls supported charges against the pair, Moubray said.

Aside from the cigarettes and matches, the package included morphine and methodone, he said.

In May, a judge sentenced Campbell to three months in prison for felony eluding of police, court records show. He became a “trustee” at the jail though, and gained new permissions and responsibilities such as outside trash pick-up, Moubray said.

“He soon took advantage of increased mobility,” Moubray said. “When inmate Campbell was taken into custody and later searched, a large amount of pharmaceutical drugs was found on his person ... about a dozen different types of pills.”

Moubray could not describe the suspects’ relationship, but said they live at the same Stuarts Draft mobile home.

The same judge also certified to grand jury a Class 5 felony charge against April M. Hogsett, 26, of Staunton, a former Augusta County Correctional Center officer accused of delivering marijuana to inmates. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

An informant told authorities that Hogsett, known as “Lisa,” was in contact with inmate Anthony Roach, 33, who was known for distributing drugs in jail, according to a warrant.

Authorities said they confirmed the informant’s story with a phone call and inmate money order records.

Cases against Campbell, Hammer and Hogsett before grand jury Oct. 26.