A Houston-based defense attorney might be searching for legal counsel of his own after he was caught trying to sneak drugs into a jail facility.
Hunter Simmons, 39, was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and possession of a prohibited substance in a correctional facility. He faces between two and 20 years in prison if convicted.
Recommended Videos
Last week, investigators were able to tie Simmons to sheets of paper laced with synthetic marijuana that he was attempting to deliver to an incarcerated client. The situation first came on the radar of Harris County Sheriff’s Office authorities when they were investigating an unrelated human trafficking case.
Two other individuals, 40-year-old Tanisha Butler and 22-year-old Joshua Palmer, were also arrested and handed the same criminal charges after they were discovered to allegedly be helping deliver the drugs from a distributor to Simmons.
Simmons and Butler both appeared in court Wednesday. They were each handed bails of $75,000. Piper is due in PC Court at 11 p.m.
Simmons has been a lawyer for 12 years and has his own practice.
Butler serves as the program director of Every Child Counts, a Texas-based non-profit that deals with children’s nutrition.
HCSO officials said the investigation is ongoing, and additional charges are possible.