Kayla Maree Ellison spared jail after helping Timothy Wagner smuggle drugs into prison
An Adelaide mother who smuggled drugs into jail for her then partner to “prove her love” has had her sentence handed down.
Police & Courts
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A mother was offered $500 and smuggled illicit drugs worth thousands into a South Australian prison for her partner serving a sentence, after he “took advantage” of the relationship.
On Monday, Kayla Ellison, 28, appeared in the District Court before Judge Michael Burnett for sentencing after pleading guilty to two counts of introducing a prohibited item into a correctional facility.
Ellison visited her then partner, Timothy Wagner, in Yatala Labour Prison on April 9, 2023, and the court heard Ellison passed an item to Wagner during an embrace, which was spotted by corrections staff, and then confiscated.
Police attended and examined the confiscated object, which was identified as illicit drugs wrapped inside a condom.
The substances included 15 strips of Buprenorphine – commonly known as Suboxone – and less than a gram of crushed Aripiprazole tablets.
The court heard the strips – prescribed to treat addiction to opioids and pain medication – had a street value of $20-$30 per strip but in prison settings could be sold for between $200 – $500 per strip, meaning the bundle could be worth up to $7500.
Judge Burnett said that Ellison, from Adelaide, had been offered $500 to bring the items into the prison on Wagner’s behalf and agreed to as a way to “prove her love”.
“You’ve since realised you had been taken advantage of,” his honour said.
“You were not aware of exactly what you were bringing into the correctional facility, but you knew that it was a prohibited item.”
The court heard Ellison had been introduced to methamphetamine by Wagner, and she had begun making positive choices since their relationship ended.
Judge Burnett sentenced Ellison to two years imprisonment, reduced to one year and six months after application of her guilty plea discount.
He imposed a nine month non-parole period, and found good reason to suspend the entire sentence on condition of a $100, two-year good behaviour bond.
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