A Green Hill School inmate was charged Dec. 29 for allegedly having fentanyl in his possession while inside the Chehalis facility in January 2023.
The defendant, identified as Diego Armand Rhymes, 20, had a preliminary hearing in Lewis County Superior Court on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. He faces one count of possession of a controlled substance while in a state correctional facility.
A K9 team reportedly alerted to contraband in a trash bag in Rhymes’ room at Green Hill School on Jan. 6, 2023, according to court documents. Green Hill staff reportedly found “a knotted latex glove with a liquid substance inside” when they searched the bag. The substance later tested positive for fentanyl “and was secured in the evidence lockers at Green Hill,” according to court documents.
Rhymes’ arraignment hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 11.
On Aug. 31, Joint Narcotic Enforcement Team (JNET) detectives executed a search warrant at the facility and seized contraband from those evidence lockers dating back to 2017, including illegal controlled substances, cellphones, vape pens, improvised knives, handwritten documents arranging illegal drug transactions, and hand tools, according to previous Chronicle reporting.
The incident report on fentanyl recovered on Jan. 6, 2023 was among several reports The Centralia Police Department received in September detailing instances where staff located controlled substances in an inmate’s possession.
Three other cases stemming from those reports were filed in Lewis County Superior Court on Nov. 16, according to court documents.
