Jail clerk ate seized meth in evidence bags, compromising 20 cases, Utah judge says
Utah prosecutors say they had to dismiss or cut plea deals in at least 20 cases after meth seized as evidence vanished from the Weber County Jail evidence locker, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Now former evidence tech Candice Barbara Follum, 48, will serve a year in jail for eating the missing meth in a plea deal of her own, reported KSL.
Follum will serve six months in jail and six months on work-release, returning to jail at night after working during the day, reported the station. She’ll do her time at another nearby jail.
Deputies arrested Follum in December 2017 after she was found to be high on meth while working in the evidence room, The Standard-Examiner reported.
Follum, who was suspended and later fired, admitted to tearing the evidence bags to get methamphetamine for the past three years, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
She told investigators she tried to take meth only from evidence for closed cases, according to the publication. Investigators also found that Follum had lost her key to the evidence room and, rather than ask for a new one, had broken into the room and covered up the damage.
Follum pleaded guilty in October to 20 counts of altering public records and 20 counts of use of a controlled substance in a plea deal, KSTU reported.
“She is a drug addict,” said Brandon Miles of the district attorney’s office, KSTU reported. “She needs help. She needs to focus on those things.”
On Tuesday, Judge Noel Hyde told Follum her actions had jeopardized the public’s trust in law enforcement, KSL reported.
“This kind of conduct and its impact on our society is devastating,” Hyde said, according to the station. But Hyde also noted Follum had completed a drug treatment program and passed numerous drug tests following her arrest.
“You have now come to know the substances that you undertook in this case have led to a very, very tragic end,” Hyde said, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. “But it is not the end of everything. Ultimately, you have a battle which you must continue, that can only be overcome by your commitment. But you cannot give up that fight.”
Her mother and daughters wrote in letters to the court that Follum is working hard to ”embrace a new life” for herself, KSL reported. Follum did not speak at the hearing Tuesday.