By Joan Gralla
Newsday
NASSAU COUNTY, NY — The Levittown girlfriend of an inmate in the Nassau County jail was arrested Wednesday after sending him and a fellow inmate greeting cards with Fentanyl patches, police said.
Jessie M. Radice, 28, of 458 Whittier Ave., “was directed” by Kyle J. Whitenack, 28, to mail him the contraband, Nassau County police said.
A Nassau correction officer on June 30 discovered two patches hidden in a greeting card addressed to Whitenack, of Grace Lane in Levittown. A second card with one patch addressed to another inmate also was found, police said.
Fentanyl is a narcotic pain medicine.
Acting Nassau District Attorney Madeline Singas in a statement said: “When contraband enters our correctional facilities it creates dangers for Corrections Officers and other inmates.”
She added: “This case demonstrates that even jails and prisons are not immune from the opiate epidemic that is plaguing our country.”
Whitenack, who was charged with promoting prisoner contraband, was arrested at the jail on Wednesday and will be arraigned Thursday at First District Court, Hempstead, police said.
Whitenack is jailed on charges including driving while intoxicated and violating probation, according to online court records.
His girlfriend, who was arrested in East Meadow on Wednesday, was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and promoting prisoner contraband, police said.
At her arraignment, bail was set at a $10,000 bond or $5,000 cash, and her next court date is Thursday. Online court records show she remained jailed Wednesday night.