26-year-old Matraca Lynn Vrana was to be sentenced yesterday in Indiana County Court for a guilty plea to possession of drug paraphernalia, but her sentencing was postponed until April 27th. That misdemeanor charge, however, appears to be the least of her legal problems.
Vrana, David McGinnis of Bolivar, McGinnis’s mother, Denise McGinnis of Bolivar, and three others are accused in a new court filing of trying to smuggle drugs into the Westmoreland County Prison. Vrana now sits in that facility, with bond set at $50,000.
The charges were filed by Westmoreland County detectives, who acted on a tip to monitor phone conversations between McGinnis and Vrana, his girlfriend, also involving his mother. He told Vrana to hide an Apple watch, ten suboxone strips and three sheets of paper soaked in synthetic marijuana inside a toilet paper at the office of a district judge who had a hearing scheduled with McGinnis’s cellmate, 39-year-old Joshuwa Petrill of Penn Township. Petrill was to retrieve the items, but the effort failed because he was accompanied to the restroom by a guard.
The other suspects are also inmates at the prison. They are 31-year-olf Terry Ely of Greensburg and 38-year-old Matthew Lucas of Jeannette. They’re both accused of contacting Vrana to try to set up similar smuggling arrangements.
David McGinnis is awaiting trial in Indiana County for possession with intent to deliver, in relation to a shooting at the Days Inn in Burrell Township. The accused shooter, Justin Libengood of Somerset, is also awaiting trial in Indiana County.
All of the suspects named in Friday’s court filing are facing the same charges: felony conspiracy to contraband controlled substance and attempted contraband controlled substance.
