Courts. (Credit: Flickr/Creative Commons)
Contraband smuggling and drug possession charges have been held for county trial following arraignment this month in Bucks County Common Pleas court against an inmate who had to have cocaine and fentanyl medically removed from her body at the hospital, authorities said.
Rihanna Christine Galione, 37, was charged Nov. 6 by detectives and investigators with the Bucks County Department of Corrections with felony counts of contraband and possession of controlled substance or contraband by an inmate, and misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, for the incident that occurred Sept. 17 at the jail on South Easton Road in Doylestown Township, according to court documents.
On that date, at 2:45 a.m., Galione was committed to jail on charges of retail theft and conspiracy, as well as a warrant for committal due to violation of probation or parole, police said. During an unclothed body search on Galione, she attempted to conceal something between her legs, per the affidavit.
Galione placed her hands behind her back, and when questioned by an officer, Galione let something fall into the toilet, which appeared to be a white square-shaped paper, police said. She quickly flushed the toilet, but the intake officer had Galione squat and cough several times, per the complaint, but nothing else was found.
Detectives said Galione was placed on contraband watch in a cell. The next day, at 3:45 a.m., corrections officers found a blue wax paper intermingled with trash on the floor of Galione’s cell, per the affidavit. At 9:55 a.m., Galione’s cell was searched, and two blue wax papers were discovered, police said.
At 12:30 p.m., Sept. 18, Galione had a medical emergency and was taken to Doylestown Hospital, police said. By 2 p.m., doctors had removed contraband from her body, police said. The contraband included a baggie with pinkish paper containing suspected fentanyl, three blue wax papers with suspected fentanyl, and a bag of cocaine, weighing 0.36 grams, per the complaint.
Galione remains jailed since Sept. 17 on 10% of $10,000 cash bail. A pre-trial hearing is set for Feb. 11.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
