Defense attorney Hunter Simmons, 39, along with Tanisha Butler, 40, and Joshua Piper, 22, are accused of delivering narcotics to an inmate, Sheriff Gonzalez said.
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A defense attorney and two others were arrested and charged after allegedly smuggling drugs to an inmate, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
Defense attorney Hunter Simmons, 39, along with Tanisha Butler, 40, and Joshua Piper, 22, were charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and providing a prohibited substance in a correctional facility.
Gonzalez said all three are accused of delivering narcotics to an inmate.
In a post on X, Gonzalez said, “We announced efforts to create a safer facility for all and those efforts are making a positive difference. Great work by our Criminal Investigations and Security Division, Human Trafficking team and Warrants Division.”
Other cases involving drugs smuggled into jail
In August, another Houston attorney, Jason Terrel Johnson, 42, was charged with organized crime, providing a prohibited substance in a corrections facility and witness tampering.
He’s accused of smuggling synthetic marijuana to a client during a court hearing earlier this month with the help of the client’s fiancé.
According to court documents, Johnson and his client used coded language in monitored jail calls to coordinate the fiancé picking up papers laced with drugs disguised as power of attorney documents.
Last November, 77-year-old Ronald Lewis was charged with providing drugs to inmates.
Former jailer Robert Robertson, 24, was also arrested last November on organized crime charges. The sheriff said Robertson smuggled papers laced with marijuana and K-2 synthetic marijuana into the jail and sold them for up to $1,500.
In July, a murder suspect in the Harris County Jail was charged with money laundering the profits he made from selling drugs to other inmates, according to Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.
Joshua Sinclair Owens, 35, was jailed on a murder charge and five other felonies.
Ogg said Owens sold drug-laced papers to other inmates and then had family members transfer the money from his CashApp account to his commissary account.
“Almost $30,000 went through this inmate’s account since he’s been in jail,” Ogg said in a news conference.