Foul Balls: Pot-filled Baseballs Thrown into Georgia Prison Yard

An attempt to smuggle contraband-filled baseballs into a south Georgia prison landed in foul territory for a Georgia woman and Virginia man.

The act may also land both of them behind bars.

Antonio Marcellus Jones, 33, of Hampton, Va., and Chrystaline Armstrong, 33, of Waycross, Ga., pleaded guilty Tuesday for their involvement in filling baseballs with pot, tobacco and a cell phone, then tossing them into the recreation yard at the medium-security federal prison in Jesup, Ga. The balls were intended for an inmate.

The two pleaded guilty to separate charges in U.S. District Court in Brunswick, Ga., the Florida Times-Union reported: Jones to a felony charge of providing marijuana to an inmate; Armstrong to a misdemeanor charge of providing a cell phone to an inmate.

The balls — four white baseballs and one lime-green softball — were intended for inmate Christopher Glenn, who is serving a life sentence on drug charges and apparently a friend of Jones’, the newspaper reported. The incident occurred on Feb. 11.

A special FBI agent testified the balls were taken apart, filled with contraband and put back together at Armsrong’s house in nearby Waycross, located around 250 miles south of Atlanta in southeast Georgia. They then drove to a parking lot near the prison, ran to the fence and chucked the balls into the rec yard.

Guards found the balls during the morning sweep of the grounds the next day.

Jones is potentially facing five years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and three years on probation, the Times-Union reported. Armstrong could get 1 year in prison.