Inmate dies from meth-laden kiss, girlfriend gets 2 years

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon woman was sentenced to two years in federal prison Tuesday on a drug conspiracy charge after her inmate boyfriend died from a meth-laden kiss after a prison visit.

U.S. District Court Judge Marco Hernandez also ordered Melissa Ann Blair, 46, of Clackamas to complete three years of post-release supervision and to participate in drug treatment and mental health programs.

Blair visited her boyfriend, Anthony Powell, at the Oregon State Penitentiary on June 2, 2016, where he was serving a life sentence for aggravated murder in the stabbing death of his mother-in-law, according to court records.

At the end of the visit, Blair and Powell, 41, shared a long kiss and Blair passed seven tiny balloons filled with methamphetamine into Powell's mouth. Two of the balloons ruptured in Powell's stomach a short time later and he died of methamphetamine toxicity, prosecutors have said.

In issuing his sentence, Hernandez said Blair's actions were part of a scheme devised by Powell and others to get drugs inside the prison. There was dispute as to whether Blair participated of her own free will but Powell nonetheless shared responsibility for his own death, Hernandez said.

"It was tragic and sad but he shares responsibility for what happened," the judge said.

Blair declined to make a statement during the hearing. Her sister, who attended the hearing, declined to comment.

Blair felt coerced by Powell even though he was behind bars, her attorney, John Ransom, said outside court. She used methamphetamine but was not addicted, he said.

"It was a very Svengali-type situation where he had total control over her life," Ransom said. "She had to do whatever he said."

Powell's close friend, Brandy Pokovich, attended the hearing and said she became pen pals with him after Powell wrote to her husband — a former inmate — and she replied to him instead. Over a dozen years, she said, they formed a deep bond through letters, phone calls and visits.

She called herself Powell's "sister by choice" and believed he felt remorse for his crime, she told the judge.

"Now, because of the choices that were made, I no longer can pick up the phone and hear his voice, I can't go on a visit and see his big cheesy smile and get the best hug in the world," she said in a witness impact statement.

"He was not just an inmate. He was a very loved and cared for person who had a family that would always be there no matter what."

Outside court, Pokovich said she helped Powell find girlfriends from behind bars by using her social media accounts and introduced him to Blair.

Like Blair, the other four defendants in the case have pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge and will be sentenced in the coming weeks.

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