Sunday, September 4, 2011 4:04 pm

A woman who twice mailed cards containing drugs to the Cannon County Jail in April pled guilty to two counts of introducing contraband into a penal institution Thursday in Cannon County Circuit Court.

Wendy Mears received two 5 year sentences on each count, to run concurrent. She was placed on state probation for 5 years. She was fined $2,000 and assessed court costs.

Mears was arrested on April 25 after the second card was received and Cannon County Sheriff’s Investigator Anthony Young conducted an investigation.

Investigator Young was contacted by Correctional Officer Albert Summers on April 25. Summers stated that he was checking the mail that was being sent into the jail and found two cards that were being sent to Walter Bess that had a white powdery substance in them.

The cards were of the tri-fold variety and where they had been glued together, someone had put a white powder in them to conceal it so that it would enter the jail without being detected.

Investigator Young and Chief Deputy Bruce Kirby took possession of the cards and then used an NIX test to test the white powder. The powder came back positive for a drug compound. The test used was for compound drugs, opiates, and cocaine-type drugs.

They then looked at the address on the card. The address had been reversed and “return to sender” was marked on the cards so that they would be sent to the jail but made to look like they had been sent to an address from the jail. The address on the cards was from Molly Bess at 511-A McFerrin St. in Woodbury. They then found out that was the name Walter Bess called his girlfriend, Wendy Mears.

Investigator Young then went to 511-A McFerrin St. and found Wendy Mears at that residence. He told Mears that he was there because of the cards had been sent to the jail. He read her rights to her and then asked her about the cards.

Mears told Young that she was the one who had sent them to the jail and Molly Bess was a nickname Walter Bess had called her and that was why she put it on the cards. Young then asked her what the white powder was and she told me it was methadone. Young asked her how much was in each of the cards. She said there were five pills crushed up and placed in each card.

Mears is also facing additional charges stemming from a July 30 arrest. She and Walter Bess were charged by WPD Officer John Fesmire with initiation of process to manufacture meth, possession of paraphernalia, and dog at large. Her court date is Sept. 27 in General Sessions Court before the Honorable Judge Susan Melton.