Jackson County jail employee accused of smuggling synthetic marijuana to inmates

A case manager at the Jackson County jail is among four people accused of running a smuggling ring that supplied inmates with a type of synthetic marijuana.

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday announced charges against Aaron D. Copes, 42, of Grandview, in the Western District of Missouri. He is charged with a single conspiracy count of using facilities in interstate commerce to further illegal activity.

He is charged alongside alleged associates Deanna K. Clark, 32, Stephanie McDaniel, 31, and James A. Booker Jr., 37. All are residents of the Kansas City area and face the same conspiracy charge, according to prosecutors.

A federal indictment unsealed Tuesday alleges the conspiracy ran between March 2020 and October 2021.

Two co-conspirators, inmates at the county jail, told authorities they assisted with smuggling the synthetic cannabinoid “K2” to other inmates. Neither was charged in the federal indictment.

Copes, the detention center’s case manager, is accused of accepting cash bribes and “sexual favors” in exchange for his role in supplying the synthetic drug, which is not allowed in the jail.

Prosecutors say the synthetic cannibanoid was soaked into sheets of paper that were smuggled inside the facility.

Under federal law, each of the alleged conspirators faces a five-year prison term plus a $250,000 fine as a maximum penalty if convicted.