Search still on for woman wanted in drugs-in-jail scheme

PORT ANGELES — Authorities remained on the lookout Saturday for a woman they said was involved in a scheme to provide heroin and Fentanyl to a Clallam County jail inmate while the man was working on the chain gang.

They began seeking the public’s assistance Thursday to apprehend Stephanie D. Dawkins, 32, of Port Angeles, Sgt. Tom Kuch, a narcotics team supervisor with the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team, said in a press release.

Dawkins allegedly conspired with her boyfriend, Jason J. Roy, 47, to deliver 10 grams of heroin, a Fentanyl patch, chewing tobacco and other items to an area Roy had access to while he worked outside the jail, Kuch said.

Roy — who is indigent, on disability and has lung cancer, according to court records — was serving his final day Friday in the Clallam County jail.

He was finishing his sentence on a felony bench warrant for violating sentencing conditions after pleading guilty to possession of a controlled substance, heroin.

Instead of being hours away from freedom Friday afternoon, he was in Superior Court facing new drug charges.

His and Dawkins’ alleged conspiracy went awry because of the discovery of the drug cache and their recorded conversations over a jail telephone.

“I was due to be released today,” Roy told Judge Brent Basden.

Basden set $50,000 bail for Roy, following Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Sarah Woolman’s recommendation.

Woolman had recounted Roy’s 27 failure-to-appear district court warrants dating to 1991 and his 18 Superior Court failure-to-appear warrants.

Filing of charges was scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Roy and Dawkins face potential charges of conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance, heroin; conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance, fentanyl; and conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a designated school bus stop.

An OPNET investigation began May 13 after Corrections Deputy Steve Brooks reported finding controlled substances and drug paraphernalia on the ground near the chain gang trailer while it was parked at 1033 W. Lauridsen Blvd. — the county shop.

Brooks found two needles, a spoon, some small cotton balls, an unopened Fentanyl patch, and a bundle of tin foil, according to the probable cause statement.

Brooks also found a can of chewing tobacco. Scratched on it was the letter “J,” a heart, and “U.”

May 13 was Roy’s first day on the chain gang.

That morning, in a recorded conversation with Dawkins, he discussed the delivery of drugs, according to the probable cause statement.

Dawkins tells Roy, “It’s there underneath the trailer,” according to the transcript.

“It’s like right there underneath at the trailer, you’ll be able to see it, it landed perfect.”

In a search warrant of Dawkins’ home in the 700 block of Ranger Road in Port Angeles, OPNET detectives said they found a notebook with Dawkins’ name written inside.

Also inside the notebook was schedule information on the chain gang’s hours and the costs of controlled substances, according to the statement.

The search also produced items that Dawkins used to communicate with Roy while they conspired during a jail visit, according to the statement.

Kuch was not available for comment this morning on further details involving the case.

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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at [email protected].