Man arrested in jail visit after drugs found on him

BOB ANDERSON

Advocate Florida parishes bureau

Published: Apr 11, 2009 - Page: 5B

A man who went to the Livingston Parish Detention Center to bail a woman out of jail ended up behind bars himself, Livingston Parish deputies said Friday.

Harvey E. LeBlanc, Jr., 29, who listed his address as unknown, was arrested after a search by deputies found both methamphetamine and marijuana in the vehicle in which LeBlanc was sitting in the jail parking lot, said Perry Rushing, chief of operations for the Sheriff’s Office.

“At the jail, we have these signs all over that say you are subject to search,” Rushing said.

After deputies noticed LeBlanc was “acting kind of funny,” they searched the truck, Rushing said.

As a result of the search, he said, deputies turned up several packages of methamphetamine as well as a small amount of marijuana and a partially burned marijuana cigarette.

At a penal institution, authorities do not have to have a warrant in order to search a vehicle, Rushing said.

After discovering the drugs, deputies booked LeBlanc on criminal counts of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession of marijuana and entering contraband into a penal institution.

Rushing said LeBlanc and a another man had gone to the jail late Wednesday to bail out a woman and the driver of the vehicle was inside the building at the time of the search.

Rushing said he did not know the name of the woman prisoner.