Heflin

ELKINS — A woman has been charged with a felony after allegedly trying to smuggle drugs into the Huttonsville Correctional Center for her son, an inmate.

Heidi Ann Heflin, 47, was charged with transporting a controlled substance into jail, and conspiracy to commit a felony. She is being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $10,000 cash-only bond, set by Magistrate Mike Dyer.

According to the criminal complaint, prepared by Senior Trooper A.P. Petrella of the Elkins Detachment of the West Virginia State Police, on Saturday at about 1:15 p.m., Petrella was dispatched to investigate a transporting contraband complaint at Huttonsville Correctional Center.

Once the officer arrived at the prison, the contraband — described as three cubes suspected to be synthetic cannabinoids, wrapped in latex — was presented to Petrella, the complaint states.

Heflin had arrived at Huttonsville Correctional Center at about 12:15 p.m., according to the complaint, and visited with her son, Patrick William Kenneth Heflin, who is an inmate at the prison. Before meeting with his mother, Patrick Heflin “was strip searched and placed into different clothing,” the complaint states.

Petrella observed the visiting area surveillance footage, and saw Heidi Heflin “transport custody of the contraband to Patrick Heflin,” according to the complaint.

Petrella also observed on the video HCC officials “interject themselves into the visitation and locate the contraband on Patrick Heflin’s person,” the complaint states.

As a result of the Saturday incident, Patrick Heflin was charged with conspiracy to commit a felony.