A Hammond woman has been arrested following an attempt to get access to inmates at the Tangipahoa Parish Jail by lying about being their attorney.
44 YO Connie Jones was booked into the Tangipahoa Parish Jail on Friday, July 19, on several felony charges including one count each of False Presentation, Practicing Law Without a License, and Criminal Trespassing.
On the afternoon of the 19th, as TPSO Narcotics detectives were at the parish jail re-booking two existing inmates with additional charges, they encountered Jones who presented herself as those inmates’ attorney. Due to the detectives’ familiarity with Jones from their investigation into the inmates she had signed in as an attorney to visit, they knew Jones was, in fact, not an attorney nor a paralegal in Louisiana or anywhere else in the U.S.
Following confirmation of other methods of misrepresentation during the incident, Jones was placed under arrest. During Jones’ booking, detectives were made aware she had come to the jail with additional people who were waiting in a car in the parking lot. After engaging with the occupants, detectives ended up arresting one of the individuals for having synthetic marijuana in their possession.
Sheriff Gerald Sticker wants to applaud the TPSO Narcotics team for their investigative diligence and advanced situational awareness to quickly identify and take control of this attempted security breach in progress.
