A woman who had been sober since January reportedly overdosed when fentanyl was smuggled into the San Juan County Detention Center, according to court records.
Angela Wilson was a detainee March 3 in the women’s pod, when Sarah Giles, 35, allegedly brought the drugs in through booking. Wilson was the first of seven women to overdose that evening on the fentanyl, according to an arrest affidavit.
There are unconfirmed reports of additional overdoses in the facility, and the Tri-City Record through a May 15 Inspection of Public Records Act request has attempted to confirm those reports. The request has sought memorandums, letters and correspondence dated March 2 to May 15 in connection with the overdoses in the San Juan County Detention Center.
The Tri-City Record also made a May 11 request to the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office seeking the case report for the sheriff’s investigation into Wilson’s overdose.
Sheriff’s Records Clerk Jennifer Coponiti responded May 13 that additional time was needed to process the request.
“We need additional time to search for, collect, and process any responsive records,” Coponiti wrote, adding that a response would be received by May 20.
The Tri-City Record was able to access the affidavit for arrest warrant for Giles through records filed in the 11th Judicial District Court. Those records include the affidavit for arrest warrant, which details the investigation and subsequent charges of trafficking a controlled substance and bringing contraband into the jail brought against Giles.
According to the investigation, Giles was arrested and booked March 3 into the detention center. Giles has a history of bringing contraband into the facility with a conviction for that crime from 2021, according to court records.
At the time of booking, “a body image scan was conducted to confirm Detainee Giles was not trying to bring contraband into the facility through a body cavity,” the affidavit stated.
An “abnormality” was found on the image, but Giles reportedly told the jail sergeant that it was “‘tissue,’ due to being denied a tampon in booking,” according to the affidavit.
The sergeant, who was not identified in the document, “failed to move Giles into dry-cell protocol.” Instead she was placed in the general population of C4 in the women’s pod, where there were six other detainees, all of whom reportedly overdosed on the drugs allegedly provided by Giles, the affidavit said.
Wilson was the first to lose consciousness and later told investigators that she saw Giles using drugs and she wanted too as well. She allegedly admitted to taking a “snort” of fentanyl powder, which led to the overdose, the affidavit said.
Detention officers conducted a search of the C5 Pod later that same day and reportedly found 0.22 grams of fentanyl powder on a detainee, who had been with Giles and Wilson.
The affidavit stated it is believed this is the same substance reportedly smuggled in by Giles, who entered a plea of not guilty, when she was arraigned April 20 in front of District Judge Curtis Gurley.
Giles remains in the San Juan County Detention Center after Judge Gurley denied her conditions of release during an April 24 motions hearing.
