Prosecutor: Ex-public defender employee indicted

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A federal grand jury has indicted a former Missouri public defender employee on charges that she smuggled heroin into a state prison.

The indictment returned Friday says that 43-year-old Juliane Colby, of Shawnee, Kansas, hid the drugs in 2019 in an envelope marked “Legal Mail” that contained other information related to a criminal court case.

The Kansas City Star reports that she faces charges of conspiracy to distribute heroin, illegal use of a communication facility and attempted distribution of heroin.

Colby also is accused of trying to bring other contraband into the Western Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron.