Ex-Clinton aide named in prison smuggling case:
A former chief of staff for Bill Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas faces felony charges accusing her of smuggling a knife and 48 tattoo needles onto the state’s death row.The charging of Betsey Wright, 66, of Rogers, Ark., comes as The Associated Press obtained documents showing death-row inmate passed love letters and contraband to a guard he committed a sex act with.
Combined, they represent just the latest in a series of high-profile incidents at the state prison system, ranging from two convicted murderers escaping in guard uniforms to a man being shot to death at a contraband checkpoint.
Wright, a longtime visitor to death row at the state’s Varner Unit, was arrested May 22 after a guard noticed a knife mixed in with her materials at an X-ray machine, an Arkansas State Police report shows. Inside a bag of Doritos, the guard found 48 tattoo needles, the report claims. Wright also had a box cutter and tweezers, the report claims.
In an interview with the AP, Wright denied the charges against her.
