By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
EL RENO – A Canadian County felon – previously convicted of carrying contraband into the Oklahoma County Jail – now faces life in prison for allegedly trying to hide cocaine while serving time at the Canadian County Jail.
Danesheona Tashay Long, 32, was charged May 3 in Canadian County District Court with bringing contraband into jail.
The felony crime is punishable by one to five years in state prison and/or a $100-$1,000 fine.
Assistant District Attorney Walter Mengden alleges Long had cocaine in her possession on April 24 inside the Canadian County Jail, 304 N Evans.
The Oklahoma City woman is the latest inmate caught by jail personnel with contraband found by the jail’s full-body scanner.
Canadian County detention officers learned of “possible contraband” in a jail pod – so all inmates were removed as that pod was searched, according to a probable cause affidavit.
After nothing was found when the female inmates were strip searched, they were brought to the booking area to be scanned.
That’s when the contraband was discovered – in plastic and tied shut – in Long’s “vaginal area”, according to Lt. Tamira Jones’ affidavit.
The defendant claimed the drugs were “in the room when she was booked in, so she just kept it, but it didn’t belong to her or anyone else in the pod,” the court document reads.
Long was serving 70 days at the Canadian County Jail as part of a five-year suspended sentence when she was allegedly caught with the illegal controlled dangerous substance.
She had been convicted in November 2022 after pleading guilty to eluding/attempting to elude a police officer, driving under the influence of alcohol, resisting an officer, and driving with suspended/revoked license in Canadian County District Court.
That felony case stemmed from Long’s September 2022 arrest by Yukon Police.
A preliminary hearing conference for Long is set July 14 before Canadian County Special Judge Charles Gass.
Public defender Jason Spanich represents the defendant.
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Long has another felony conviction on her record after pleading guilty in September 2020 to carrying contraband into a penal institution and possession of a controlled dangerous substance in Oklahoma County District Court.
That case was filed in connection with her July 2018 arrest by Oklahoma City Police.
She previously served prison time between October 2020 and December 2021, Oklahoma Department of Corrections’ records indicate.
Because of Long’s previous felony convictions, she now faces three years to life in state prison on her pending Canadian County jail contraband charge.
The Canadian County Sheriff’s Office in spring 2022 purchased a Tek 84 body scanning machine to keep inmates from bringing contraband – defined as “any weapon, explosives, drugs, alcohol, or money or financial document” – into the county detention center.
The machine was installed last fall in the inmate booking area.
