Jesse Preibe.
A jail inmate may have stolen synthetic marijuana from the Tulsa County Sheriff’s property room by hiding it in his rectum, records show.
The inmate allegedly gained access to the sheriff’s office property room in June, potentially compromising all of the evidence contained within. A search warrant shows the inmate was caught by jail staff transporting the “K2,” also known as synthetic marijuana, to a work area by hiding it in his rectum.
Jesse Preibe, who was assigned to the Tulsa County Inmate Work Program, was spotted June 17 by Sgt. Chris Pierce underneath a desk in the inmate workshop, the affidavit states. Pierce noticed a nearby box was open, according to the affidavit, and saw several bags of “K2” in it.
Responding jail staff noticed Preibe, 22, was “bleeding heavily from his rectal area” and had blood “seeping through (the) rear of his pants. Preibe stated “he urgently needed to use the bathroom,” the affidavit states.
Smuggling contraband into the jail via the rectal cavity, a process referred to as “keistering,” is “common practice for inmates and prisoners,” according to the investigator who requested the search warrant.
Preibe was taken to a solitary “suicide watch” cell, where he was observed via closed circuit television sitting on a toilet, reaching between his legs and “making pulling movements.” Investigators removed Preibe from the cell and found a “large amount of blood” and a “green leafy substance” floating in the water, as well as a retail foil packet “associated with the sale and packaging of the synthetic marijuana.”
Preibe was given an x-ray, which showed a “large black object” remained in Preibe’s rectal cavity.
The search warrant does not say that Preibe got the “K2” from the property room.
However, sources told The Frontier that it was a jail trustee, or inmate given special privileges, who gained access to the room. A court document shows that Preibe began working as a trustee at the jail Feb. 17 and was serving time after pleading guilty that month to a “false pretense / con game charge.”
Records show Preibe was removed from the trustee program June 22, five days after he was found with the bag in his rectum.
The affidavit states that Preibe “got violent” with responding jail staff, and the “keistering” allegation is clearly a violation of the law, yet Preibe was never charged with a crime following the June 17 jail incident.
He was released from jail in August after serving his 6-month sentence. Preibe has a previous methamphetamine manufacturing conviction and served nearly a year in prison beginning in 2012, records show.
Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said on Tuesday that his primary focus is to investigate the “integrity of the property room.”
“All I can say is that I was alerted to this by the sheriff’s office just last week. We had a verbal discussion over it and I asked for a written report,” Kunzweiler said. “If there’s other stuff going on, I’m sure I’m about to find out about it.”
Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler, right. DYLAN GOFORTH/THE FRONTIER
Asked how Preibe could elude charges for two obvious violations, Kunzweiler said, “That’s a dang good question.”
“Just generally speaking, law enforcement can get a search warrant and not pursue charges,” he said.
The “K2” Preibe allegedly attempted to smuggle out of the property room is believed to have been connected to a large sting operation the Sheriff’s Office conducted with the Tulsa Police Department last October. Nearly $700,000 and more than 300 pounds of K2 were recovered from a number of convenience stores allegedly illegally selling the product.
The property room breach could call into question the integrity of that case. Nineteen people were arrested last October during the raid and at least 11 people were eventually charged with crimes ranging from distribution of controlled substance to to possession of controlled substance.
Some of the defendants have pleaded guilty, while others are awaiting preliminary hearings or trial dates.
TCSO has been in upheaval since April, when Reserve Deputy Robert Bates shot and killed an unarmed man during a drug sting. Bates has said he intended to use his Taser on Eric Harris but instead pulled his gun and fatally shot him.
Subsequent investigations into the Sheriff’s Office led to several forced resignations and firings of high-ranking department members.
A county grand jury and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation are investigating the Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI reportedly is examining the department’s operations.
Sheriff Stanley Glanz has said repeatedly that he has no intention of resigning.
