Woman accused of hiding marijuana in Bible to smuggle it into Union County Jail

A 24-year-old Jonesville woman was arrested, accused of trying to smuggle tobacco and marijuana into the Union County Jail by hiding it the binding of a Bible.

Monkia Marie Ryans, of 281 Belue Road, was arrested Sunday and charged with attempting to furnish a prisoner with contraband.

A statement from the Union County Sheriff’s Office stated Ryans handed jail supervisors a Bible to give to an inmate, but the supervisor noticed the Bible did not “look or feel right.” The Bible was X-rayed, and authorities determined the binding contained loose tobacco, white paper and three half-smoked marijuana joints.

Sheriff David Taylor said Ryans was trying to send the contraband to a boyfriend. He didn’t identify the intended recipient.

Ryans was taken into custody Sunday after she was found hiding in a vehicle during a jail visitation period.

Taylor said he’s never seen that particular tactic before and said finding contraband in general is not common at the facility.

The Union County jail held 60 inmates as of Monday afternoon.

“They just put it in the good book,” he said of using a Bible. “This is first time we’ve had this in a good while. It’s one of those situations because you always check for it.”

Taylor commended the work of the deputies in the jail who spotted the contraband.

“We’re trained at the academy, and we also train regularly for new trends of it going around,” he said.

Follow Daniel J. Gross on Twitter @danieljgross