Prison inmate is charged with illegal possession of ‘ice’

The Superior Court has found probable cause to charge a Department of Corrections inmate for illegally possessing methamphetamine or “ice” after a search of his cell turned up a baggie of crystal methamphetamine or “ice” and a glass pipe.

Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph Camacho found probable cause to charge Yichuan Bai with one count of illegal possession of a controlled substance. A hearing on Bai’s case has been scheduled for Jan. 22 at 9am before Associate Judge Kenneth Govendo.

Bai, who is already serving time for his involvement in a drug trafficking case, was charged this time with illegal possession of a controlled substance after the cell assigned to him was found containing a clear plastic resealable zipper storage bag that contained a crystalline substance and a glass pipe. It was learned from court documents that DOC received a tip from an unknown informant about some inmates having drugs inside their cells. It was DOC’s emergency response team that conducted the search on Bai’s cell.

Assistant attorney general Chester Hinds, who appeared for the government, said there is enough evidence and testimony to find probable cause to charge Bai, yet Bai has pleaded not guilty to the new charge.

Bai, through his court-appointed lawyer, Anthony Aguon, argued that the items in question were found in his cell, not his body.

According to court documents, Department of Public Safety detective Jackson Davis said the clear plastic resealable zipper storage bag containing the crystalline substance and the glass pipe were found in a mattress inside Bai’s jail cell after a search conducted by Corrections officers last Dec. 16.

Davis said the only persons who had access to the cells in that area other than Bai were Corrections officers.

The crystalline substance was tested and yielded presumptive positive for methamphetamine, Davis added.

Davis said he attempted to interview Bai the next day through an interpreter, but the “defendant refused to give a statement without a lawyer.”

Asked whether the detective has learned how the contraband got into the secure facility, Davis said that, based on his interview and investigation of other Corrections personnel, it could have been smuggled in by Corrections officers. But Bai also interacted with other inmates during recreation time in the facility, Davis added.