Cops Not Lovin' Egg McMuffin Pill Smuggling Plot

A trio of would-be pill pushers is now under wraps after Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputies foiled their plans to smuggle drugs into the Clearwater jail.

According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, the smuggling plot was cracked wide open Thursday when deputies discovered more than 50 prescription pills hidden inside a McDonald’s Egg McMuffin wrapper.

What the smugglers didn’t know, however, is that deputies had received a tip earlier warning them that an inmate on work detail in the Video Visitation Center was assisting the flow of illegal pills into the 14400 49th St. N. jail.

On Thursday, detectives found a “suspicious parcel” behind a steel box located outside the entrance to the visitation center. When they unwrapped that parcel, they found an Egg McMuffin wrapper inside. When opened, the paper contained “over 50 prescription pills that were wrapped and sealed in plastic.”

During their investigation, detectives identified 47-year-old Robert Stephen Lytle as the supplier of the suspicious package. Inmate worker Danelle Schmidt, 45, is accused of recovering parcels delivered by Lytle and giving them to fellow inmate Stephenie Grove to distribute.

Grove and Schmidt are both assigned to the same housing unit at the jail.

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When detectives interviewed Lytle, he admitting to making two similar deliveries during the past week, an email to media from the sheriff’s office stated.

This is the second time in the last few days that Pinellas detectives have foiled jailhouse drug smuggling plots. The last suspects arrested tried to use the U.S. Postal Service for their deliveries.

Lytle, Schmidt and Grove now all face conspiracy to introduce contraband into a county detention facility charges. Lytle is a St. Petersburg resident. Schmidt, also of St. Petersburg, was already in jail on felony petty theft and other charges. Grove was behind bars for violation of probation on drug-related charges.

Photo Credit: Lytle, Grove and Schmdit/ Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office