JONESBORO, Ark. – A man who was in the Craighead County Detention Center for serious felony charges now faces more charges after suspected fentanyl was smuggled into the jail, resulting in the death of another inmate.
It began on July 24 near the intersection of Nettleton Avenue and Red Wolf Boulevard, when investigators with the Street Crimes Unit performed a traffic stop for a tinted license plate cover and illegal window tint. Investigators made contact with Lacey Justin Barber, 28, of Jonesboro, who was already on felony probation. A probation search was performed on Barber’s vehicle and person. Investigators located a plastic Bic pen tube that had white residue inside of it that tested positive for cocaine.
Agents were familiar with Barber, noting in the probable cause affidavit that he was involved in the sale of drugs. Officers conducted a probation search of his residence, finding his girlfriend in the residence along with their children. The bedroom shared by Barber and his girlfriend contained 266 grams of marijuana, police said. In a small safe inside Barber’s closet, a loaded 9mm pistol was located. Agents also located hundreds of small baggies in the kitchen believed to be used to package drugs.
Barber was arrested for four felony charges: simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, a class Y felony, possession of schedule VI with purpose to deliver, a class C felony, possession of a firearm by certain persons/prior felony and possession of drug paraphernalia, both class D felonies. Barber faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, just on the class Y charge. On Friday, a $50,000 cash/surety bond requirement was set by Judge David Boling on these charges.
However, Barber now faces two more felony charges after the death of an inmate in the county jail. The second probable cause affidavit says on July 24, a detective on call for the Craighead County Sheriff’s Office received a phone call at 10 PM informing of the death of an inmate, Daniel Robinson.
The detective responded to the jail and learned that Robinson had snorted fentanyl while in custody. He also reported learning that a new intake inmate had just recently been placed in the unit Robinson was housed in. The new inmate was Barber.
Jail cameras showed Barber pass something to multiple inmates in the unit not long after he arrived. The detective spoke to the inmates, who all said Barber gave them a “blue pill” they called a “Perk 30,” which is a fentanyl based pill, according to the affidavit. Some of the inmates said they traded commissary items to Barber for these blue pills and on video, the detective could see Barber walking around with multiple commissary items less than an hour after he entered the unit.
While watching the camera footage, the detective was able to see a transaction between Robinson and Barber at approximately 9:13 PM. At about 9:22 PM, Robinson appears to sit down and consumes the pill, possibly by snorting it, according to the affidavit. Ten minutes later, at 9:32 PM, he lost consciousness. Robinson was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Deputies processed the crime scene inside of the unit where the incident occurred. They located blue and white powder residue on a bunk belonging to one of the inmates that said he received a “blue pill” from Barber.
The detective reported Barber claimed he never gave anyone in the unit anything. When confronted with the fact that the camera recorded several transactions, Barber claimed he was just giving them tobacco. The detective asked him how he had tobacco and Barber claimed he had two cigarettes in his sock when he was searched. Barber said he gave the cigarettes to three different inmates. The three inmates were the same ones who told the detective Barber gave them a blue pill believed to be fentanyl.
For this, Barber is now facing two more charges: death by delivery, a class A felony punishable by six to 30 years, and furnishing prohibited articles, a class B felony punishable by five to 20 years.
On Friday, Judge David Boling set a $500,000 cash or surety bond requirement for Barber’s release on those two charges.
All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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