Woman Smuggles Drugs Into Jail

A Newport woman is now in jail after smuggling drugs into the Cocke County jail during an arrest. Deputies traveling eastbound on I-40 near the 436 mile marker on Tuesday afternoon observed an orange Volkswagen Beetle with one of its brake lights out. The driver was 45 year old Jason Jackson of Russellville who was wanted on a warrant in Jefferson County. Deputies took him into custody. The passenger was 31 year old Amber Grooms of Newport who had 3 outstanding warrants against her in Cocke County, so she was taken into custody as well. At the Cocke County jail as a corrections officer was searching her, Grooms grabbed a plastic baggie from her groin area and put it in her mouth, swallowing it. Grooms admitted the bag had 3 points of heroin inside, or about 5 grams. Grooms now faces additional charges of possession of schedule I, introduction into a penal facility, and tampering with evidence…the last two are felonies in the state of Tennessee.