Former Top Aide To Bill Clinton Charged With Smuggling Tattoo Needles Into Prison

August 13, 2009 9:20 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The chief of staff of former President Bill Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas was charged on Wednesday with smuggling tattoo needles into the death row unit of the state prison. Betsey Wright, a death penalty opponent, reportedly plans to surrender to authorities next week.

According to a police report posted online by the Arkansas Times, Wright tried to bring in contraband into the maximum security unit during a May 22 visit. The items were an ink pen with tweezers and a needle, a knife, a boxcutter and 48 tattoo needles hidden in a Nachos Cheese Doritos bag. She is charged with a total of 51 felonies.

An x-ray machine had detected the ink pen and knife as Wright was going through the security check during her visit. A prison officer then noticed the red bag of chips that "appeared to have been opened and then resealed."

"Wright state that she had brought them from the machine," the report said. When the a prison officer opened the bag and found "something red in color and wrapped in tissue and tape," the former Clinton staffer allegedly said, "Oh my goodness," and told the officer "that the bag was lying on the bottom of the chip machine and she thought she was getting a free bag of chips.

Wright will turn herself in next week and post the $1,500 bond, the Arkansas Times said.

The 66-year-old served as top aide for Clinton at the Governor's Mansion, and was deputy chairperson of the 1992 Clinton presidential campaign.

She was also chairperson of the Arkansas Democratic Party and an executive for a lobbying firm, the Wexler Group. An anti-death penalty advocate, she has been a frequent visitor at the Arkansas State Prison, which has about 40 death row inmates.