2 men arrested for drugs, 1 attempts to sneak heroin into jail

WASHINGTON CITY — Two men were arrested in St. George Tuesday after police allegedly discovered a variety of drugs and drug paraphernalia in their vehicle during a traffic stop. One of the men then allegedly tried to sneak heroin into the jail by concealing it in his anal cavity.

Police officers pulled over a vehicle in Washington City for equipment and traffic violations, according to probable cause statements filed by the Washington City Police Department in support of the arrests.

Keeten Wyatt Cleverly, transient, St. George, Utah, booking photo posted May 27, 2015 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News
Keeten Wyatt Cleverly, transient, St. George, Utah, booking photo posted May 26, 2015 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

When officers spoke to the driver of the vehicle, identified as Nathan James Smith, of St. George, and his passenger, Keeten Wyatt Cleverly, a transient, Smith provided police with an invalid driver’s license, and Cleverly provided them with a false name.

When police discovered Cleverly had provided them with a false name, the statement said, Cleverly said he gave them a friend’s name because he thought he had a warrant for his arrest.

While officers were issuing Smith a citation for driving without a valid driver’s license, Smith consented to a narcotics K-9 sniff of his vehicle, according to the statement. The K-9 was deployed on the vehicle and alerted to the presence of drugs.

During a search of the vehicle, officers located a tar-like substance that tested positive for heroin, according to the statement of probable cause. A further search yielded a variety of prescription drugs and drug paraphernalia, some of which Smith said belonged to him.

Nathan James Smith, of St. George, Utah, booking photo posted May 27, 2015 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News
Nathan James Smith, of St. George, Utah, booking photo posted May 26, 2015 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

Smith was placed under arrest for the drugs, the statement said, at which time he told police Cleverly was attempting to buy drugs at the home they had left prior to the traffic stop.

However, Cleverly told police he had been riding with Smith because Smith agreed to sell him drugs, the statement said. Cleverly then provided officers with multiple drug paraphernalia items he said Smith had asked him to conceal during the stop.

“He provided a syringe with dark residue, spoon with dark residue, a red container, and a total of four pieces of balled up foil,” the arresting officer wrote in the statement. “ … The substance inside the foil later tested positive as heroin. Due to the quantity, size, and amount of balled up foil, I found it to be consistent with distribution of heroin. Each ball was packaged for what appeared to be individual sale, and was far more than a personal use quantity.”

Both Smith and Cleverly were arrested and booked into the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility.

During a search of Cleverly’s person during booking, officers observed what looked like a clear plastic bag hanging from Cleverly’s rectum, according to a statement of probable cause. The substance inside the bag tested positive for heroin.

Cleverly was charged with a second-degree felony for possession of drugs within a correctional facility, a third-degree felony for drug possession, a class A misdemeanor for giving false information to police and a class B misdemeanor for possession of drug paraphernalia.

Cleverly’s bail for release pending trial stands at $17,533.

Smith was charged with a first-degree felony for drug possession with the intent to distribute, four class A misdemeanors for drug possession, a class B misdemeanor for possession of drug paraphernalia and an infraction for driving on a denied driver’s license.

Smith’s bail stands at $13,303.

Both men are scheduled to make initial court appearances Thursday.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

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2 Comments

  • NotSoFast May 28, 2015 at 5:57 pm

    Hey dude, you want to buy some stuff? Great.
    Just let me reach down here…. it’s in there somewhere. Dang! Want to give me a hand dude?

  • mshaw May 29, 2015 at 4:29 am

    Guess he’s not that cleverly

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