Woman Charged with Smuggling Drugs into Waupun Prison, causing Inmate’s Fatal Overdose | WTAQ News Talk | 97.5 FM · 1360 AM

PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK

WAUPUN, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A woman was arrested Thursday in connection with a June 2022 drug overdose death at Waupun Correctional Institution.

Janelle Hill, 37, of Madison, is charged with first-degree reckless homicide for allegedly smuggling the drugs the inmate used into the prison.

According to a news release, during the victim’s autopsy, latex balloons containing a mixture of suspected cocaine and fentanyl were recovered. Officials say Hill delivered these balloons to the inmate during a visit one day before he fatally overdosed.

“The balloons are believed to have become compromised while in the victim’s body causing his death from drug toxicity,” the news release states.

Last week, a former WCI employee guilty to smuggling contraband into the prison in exchange for bribe payments.