Man convicted in prison smuggling case

MILFORD - A Greentown man was convicted in Pike County Court last week for attempting to smuggle heroin into the Pike County Correctional Facility. Pike County President Judge Joseph F. Kameen heard the case presented by First Assistant District Attorney Ray Tonkin on Wednesday Sept. 13, and found Thomas Rice, age 50, of Greentown, Pa., guilty of the felony offenses of Contraband, Criminal Conspiracy, Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver, and a misdemeanor offense of Possession of a Controlled Substance. The case presented in court demonstrated that Thomas Rice attempted to smuggle two packets of heroin into the Pike County Correctional Facility by concealing them in an eyeglass case in July of 2003. After learning of this attempt, correctional officers searched the eyeglass case and discovered the heroin. By using correctional facility records, the Pennsylvania State Police were able to determine that Thomas Rice was the person who brought the eyeglass case to the facility for his wife Robyn Rice. According to Tonkin, the excellent record keeping system at the correctional facility and the well trained correctional officers were the key to bringing the case to a successful conclusion. Rice will face sentencing before President Judge Kameen at a later date. He faces at least two years in prison and could be sentenced up to thirty five years in prison. Rice was remanded back to the Monroe County Correctional Facility, where he is serving a sentence on a robbery conviction, in lieu of $ 100,000.00 bail.