A trio of Duchesne County Jail inmates are facing drug charges after testing positive for opiates and methamphetamine. According to the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office, jail staff were informed on January 9th that Vicky Di Anne Christensen had given drugs to fellow inmates in her housing unit. All the inmates in that unit were given drug tests and Christensen tested positive for opiates while Stormi Don Blue and Chelsea Lynn Lenhart both tested positive for opiates and methamphetamine. “None of the women should have tested positive for opiates or methamphetamine given the amount of time they had been in custody,” shares Jail Commander Lt. Jeremy Curry. The subsequent investigation determined that Christensen had the drugs concealed inside her body at the time she was booked into jail. “People who are addicted to opiates are worried about being arrested and then having to come down off the drugs in jail so they’re more willing to conceal the drugs inside their bodies,” says Curry. “We have no way to search inside their bodies without reasonable suspicion to believe they have something concealed.” The Duchesne County Jail has had three other unrelated cases in recent weeks in which individuals were charged with possession of a controlled substance within a correctional facility when deputies found drugs on the individuals during intake searches. In these cases, the drugs were recovered before reaching the housing units. Correctional facilities can take different approaches to dealing with drugs being brought into the facility. “Many jails handle these as administrative cases which means they are not public,” shares Curry. “We pursue criminal charges, which makes these cases public, because we want to set the standard that if you bring drugs into the jail, you are going to be charged.” Christensen and Lenhart each face a charge of 1st Degree Felony Distribution of a Controlled Substance. Blue is charged with two counts of 2nd Degree Felony Possession of a Controlled Substance in a Correctional Facility.
