Detroit woman avoids prison in Lakeland Corrections contraband case

Don Reid, Coldwater Daily Reporter

BRANCH COUNTY — Adoreray Bruce was sentenced to six months in jail Monday for her part in plans to throw packages filled with drugs and other contraband over the Lakeland Corrections Facility fence last Aug. 13.

Circuit Judge Bill O'Grady placed the 28-year-old first-time offender on two-year probation under a provision allowing her record to be erased if she successfully completes the supervision. 

Circuit Judge Bill O'Grady sentence Adoreray Bruce to jail and probation in a Lakeland correctional contraband case Monday.
Circuit Judge Bill O'Grady sentence Adoreray Bruce to jail and probation in a Lakeland correctional contraband case Monday.

Bruce pleaded no contest to possession of methamphetamine, one of the drugs in the contraband packages.

Through tears, Bruce told the judge, "I take full responsibility for my actions. I am remorseful. I have let my two children down."

Defense attorney Scott Nadeau asked for the opportunity to clean her record because the certified nursing assistant is in nursing school. Bruce helps care for other members of her family.

O'Grady said, "There's nothing in the (pre-sentence) report that would suggest that you're going to continue to commit this type of crime."

Nadeau suggested that no child support money was the reason she became part of the contraband scheme.

A review of institution telephone calls found Bruce discussing with Janard Hackworth throwing drugs and cell phones over the fence first on July 3.

Bruce convinced Edison Terry, 59, of Detroit, to come to Coldwater and make the throws for $500.

Michigan State Police obtained a warrant and tracked Bruce's cell phone from Detroit.

Corrections officers and troopers caught Terry on Aug. 13 in a wooded area outside the prison fence.

A Michigan State Police dog found three packages nearby. All were wrapped in plastic and covered in artificial grass. Inside were two smartphones, 96 grams of cannabis product, 10 grams of heroin, and 30 grams of meth.

Terry was sentenced in December to 45 months to 20 years after a no-contest plea for delivery of methamphetamine. The conviction was Terry's ninth felony.

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Prison officials and state police did not charge Hackworth, 35, in the contraband case. Hackworth is serving life without parole for armed robbery and murder after a 2007 conviction in Detroit.

— Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Detroit woman avoids prison in Lakeland Corrections contraband case

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