Two inmates at the Ontario County Jail are facing new felony charges following an investigation into drugs being brought into the facility.
According to the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office, 46-year-old Joseph Smith and 43-year-old Michael Wade were arrested on January 31 after jail staff gathered intelligence that methamphetamine had been smuggled into the jail and distributed among incarcerated individuals.
Investigators allege Smith concealed methamphetamine on his person when he entered the jail on January 23 on unrelated charges. Authorities say he later distributed the drugs to Wade while both were in custody. Both men were allegedly found in possession of more than one gram of methamphetamine.
Smith and Wade were each charged with third-degree Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Sell, a Class B felony. They were arraigned in Ontario County CAP Court and ordered held pending further proceedings in Hopewell Town Court.
Smith had been held on a Family Court warrant and earlier charges, including criminal possession of a weapon and a controlled substance. He is now being held without bail on the new charge. Wade was already being held on a second-degree murder charge and remains in custody.
Sheriff David Cirencione credited corrections officers and the Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Division for acting quickly on the intelligence, along with the facility’s K9, Shaver, for assisting in the investigation.
The investigation remains ongoing.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
