A Fulton County man has been arrested in California 10 months after local law enforcement issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with an investigation into an attempt to smuggle drugs into the Baxter County Detention Center using a Bible. Last August, Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery said a man, identified by video surveillance as 32-year-old Kevin Burch, came to the Baxter County Detention Center to deliver a Bible to inmate Mikel Short of Midway. The Bible was taken by a jail supervisor, and upon inspection suspected methamphetamine, marijuana and tobacco in vacuum sealed baggies were located in the binding and confiscated.Further investigation found Birch, Short and then 28-year-old Cindy Marie Piatt of Midway had conspired together to purchase a Bible, conceal the drugs, and have it delivered to the detention center. Burch and Piatt allegedly used a cell phone to facilitate the plan.
Bench warrants were obtained and investigators went to an address on Baxter County Road 508, in the Midway area, where they arrested Piatt. During the arrest, while waiting for someone to arrive to pick up her children, Piatt handed off approximately 25.1 grams of methamphetamine to a 17-year-old juvenile female to conceal. The drugs were discovered and seized.
Piatt was sentenced to 12 years in prison in March after pleading guilty to a number of charges, including participating in the attempt to sneak methamphetamine into the county jail in a Bible, as well as attempting to fake drug tests in a variety of ways.
Also in March, Short, an inmate in the state prison system, got 10 additional years tacked on to his sentence after admitting he was an active participant in a plan to sneak drugs hidden in a Bible to him while he was an inmate in the Baxter County jail.
Deputies continued to search for Burch, who has had an outstanding bench warrant on multiple felony charges related to the incident.
Burch has been booked into the Baxter County Jail on twenty prior occasions since 2004, as well as several bookings at other area jails.
Last August Sheriff Montgomery appealed to anyone knowing the whereabouts of Burch to contact the sheriffs office.
Burch was apprehended in California when it was learned he allegedly attempted to run over someone. He was returned to Baxter County by a transport company and is being held on a $75,000 bond. He faces felony charges of furnishing prohibited articles, delivery of methamphetamine, conspiracy to furnish prohibited articles, and unlawful use of a communication device, as well as an enhanced penalty for proximity to certain facilities and being a habitual offender.
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