Paralegal charged with drug possession, accused of smuggling drugs into NC prisons
Katelin Rey
By Chelsea Donovan
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RALEIGH, North Carolina (WRAL) — Raleigh police charged a paralegal in Raleigh with possession and trafficking of drugs.
Authorities charged Katelin Rey on Sunday.
Law enforcement is investigating Rey for allegations she used her position to smuggle drugs into three area prisons: Central Prison in Raleigh, Tabor Correctional and Scotland Correctional.
The North Carolina Department of Adult Correction told WRAL News, “Staff members were successful in detecting contraband in legal mail sent to several incarcerated people and were able to cooperate with Raleigh police investigators in bringing charges, and incoming legal mail is opened by prison staff (wearing personal protective equipment) in front of the recipient and visually inspected for contraband, without reading the contents.”
Raleigh police found that Rey was ordering drugs on the dark web, according to a new search warrant.
The warrant states a cooperating defendant told police, “Rey told them they used to do legal work and used that as an opportunity to take narcotics into jails to be distributed among the inmates.”
The search warrant states that authorities found cocaine, MDMA, liquid fentanyl and heroin at Rey’s home. It stated Rey allegedly sprayed fentanyl onto mail and then sent to inmates.
“If a lawyer or someone working for a lawyer wanted to help someone on the inside, this is a way to do it, because it’s not scanned, like regular mail from the public,” said defense attorney Daniel Meier.
On Thursday, WRAL News went to Rey’s home to ask her about the charges.
“I do not want this out there,” said Rey, peering through her front door. “There is a lot that is not being said. It’s so much more complicated.”
WRAL News reached out to Rey’s attorney but have not heard back.
Court records show Rey has been a paralegal for almost 10 years, and has worked on nine first-degree murder cases. She is currently out of jail under a $250,000 bond.
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