Inmate, Wife Charged With Smuggling Phone Into Prison

An eastern Pennsylvania man charged in a social club shooting and his wife, who also faces charges, are now accused of trying to smuggle a cellphone into Northampton County Prison.
 
Thirty-three-year-old Rene Figueroa was arraigned by video Tuesday on charges of possession of contraband and conspiracy. Thirty-seven-year-old Sonia Panell faces identical charges but wasn't immediately arraigned.
 
Authorities allege in court documents that Panell left a phone wrapped in tissue inside a trash can when she visited Figueroa in December.
 
Figueroa is one of two men charged in the December 2012 shootout at a Bethlehem social club that killed a woman and injured five other people.
 
Prosecutors alleged last month that Panell tried to hire a hit man from Ohio to kill three witnesses who are to testify against her husband.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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