Photo: Jarred Lee Coddington
A Mountain Home man, charged with being part of a conspiracy to sneak contraband items to an inmate in the Baxter County jail, was sentenced to nine years in prison Thursday.
Twenty-five-year-old Jarred Lee Coddington changed his plea to guilty on the charges against him in two open cases during a video session of Baxter County Circuit Court.
In one case, Coddington was accused of working with another person in an effort to get a plastic bag packed with items including marijuana wax, tobacco, smokeless tobacco, lighters and rolling papers to 49-year-old Troy Marlowe who was in custody on earlier drug charges.
Marlowe’s wife, 49-year-old Stacy Marlowe, had been in jail on the same charges as her husband but was out on bond, when she allegedly participated in the plan.
Photos: Troy Marlowe and Stacy Marlowe
Ironically, when Coddington was part of the effort to get the contraband items into the jail, he was free on bond on an earlier charge of being involved in sharing contraband items with other inmates while he was locked up.
His plea Thursday covered charges in both cases.
According to probable cause affidavits, elements of the effort were captured on surveillance cameras on Feb. 13.
Coddington and Stacy Marlowe were in the court complex on East Sixth Street when they were seen, as they placed the bag with the contraband items in the men’s restroom located in the waiting area for juvenile court.
Coddington can be seen going into the bathroom first, apparently to check things out. He stayed for 31 seconds. When he exited, Stacy Marlowe approached, and Coddington held the door for her while she went in. She was recorded as being inside for only 5.2 seconds, while Coddington stood guard outside.
It was at this point, investigators believe, Stacy Marlowe hid the plastic bag in the restroom, where it was to be picked up by an inmate being brought to the complex to appear in circuit court.
After she emerged, Coddington and Stacy Marlowe departed the area together.
The plan was foiled when a jailer accompanying the inmates to court went into the bathroom to check it prior to any of the prisoners being allowed to use the facility and found the bag.
After the incident, investigators checked monitored telephone conversations between Stacy Marlowe and her inmate husband.
The calls included a number of conversations planning the “drop.” Troy Marlowe was reported to have given his wife instructions on how to package the items so the bag could be taped to the body of an inmate.
Troy Marlowe told his wife to meet a “man with a beard and a funny last name” at the court complex, and he would assist her. The man was later identified as Coddington.
Troy Marlowe is alleged to have also called his wife from the jail while she was still in the court complex. During one conversation, she informed her spouse the drop had been made.
Both Troy and Stacy Marlowe have entered not guilty pleas to the charges against them stemming from the conspiracy.
Troy Marlowe is in the Tucker Unit of the state prison system doing time on earlier drug charges. His wife is free on $15,000 bond. They are both scheduled to be in circuit court next month.
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