GENESEE COUNTY (WWJ) - A former Mount Morris High School teacher and volunteer at the Genesee County Jail has been charged after allegedly smuggling drugs and a cell phone in to inmates.
Genesee County Sheriff Christopher R. Swanson said Thursday that Meredith Ann Leyrer infiltrated the jail's I.G.N.I.T.E. program for seven months, which included dropping funds into the accounts of three inmates and placing phone calls with nine individuals inside the program.
The program, which stands for Inmate Growth Naturally and Intentionally Through Education, offers comprehensive education, job certification, and post-incarceration work opportunities and assistance to incarcerated individuals.
Swanson said instead of education, Leyrer was smuggling in drugs, cash and a cell phone that was used 357 times for phone sex and to organize the drops.
"We have food vendors, we have communications vendors, we have pastors, we have our teacher staff, we have people from all over the place who come in because this is a home base for them to volunteer," Sheriff Swanson said in a Facebook Live Press Conference.
"But when you see this still-shot of a hand-to-hand, this is not a teacher, this is a drug smuggler who plays a role of a teacher."
In video surveillance from July 17, Leyrer can be seen in the I.G.N.I.T.E. school sitting at a table with two inmates before handing an envelope to Deandrea Arrington, who is seated across from her. Swanson said the envelope allegedly contained 135 pills of fentanyl.
In addition to the pills, Leyrer is also said to have brought in six cans of Marijuana wax, which is pure THC, the active ingredient in Marijuana.
"[Of] that pure THC Weed Wax, six cans of it that were left and one of those was actually shoved in a Frito bag and it was left under one of our blue chairs so nobody else could come and pick it up and take it to the floors," Swanson elaborated.
Swanson goes on to say that in December of 2022, Leyrer made 357 phone calls between herself and nine inmates. Of those nine, she is said to have put $631 into three accounts.
"In addition to that, she smuggled in a cell phone," Swanson goes on.
"She smuggled in a cell phone to the jail floor so she could call the phone from the outside and have phone sex with the inmates. Of those 357 calls, God only knows how many times she did that. But, I do know this phone that was found in a mattress in one of the cells on 5B, this is how she communicated when she wasn't here is when she was home with her family in Burton, Michigan. She's a family lady!"
Of what authorities are aware, the 54-year-old former teacher is said to have brought in 135 pills of fentanyl, six cans of Marijuana wax, a cell phone, $631 paid to inmates and 357 phone calls since December 2022.
Swanson said that Leyrer did this because she was groomed. She told the Sheriff that she always had a low self esteem about herself and that throughout her whole life, she always had to fight for attention.
"She was on the floor, doing what her profession is supposed to do, protecting, serving and teaching. Those on the floor took advantage of that," Swanson explained.
"That grooming technique is not uncommon to anybody who is vulnerable, whether it's drug smuggling or human trafficking. It doesn't excuse what they did -- but, I'm telling you WHY she did it."
Meredith Ann Leyrer has been charged with three felonies: a 20-year felony of manufacturing and delivery of narcotics; a five-year felony of bringing contraband into a correctional facility and another five-year felony for bringing a phone into a correctional facility.
The teacher was arraigned and put on a $20,000 cash bond.
Leyrer was booked on Monday and remains in custody at the Genesee County jail.
Three inmates, Arrington, Marquise Coleman and Todd Cadoza, are in restrictive housing and have had their I.G.N.I.T.E. University privileges forever suspended, with the exception of accessing some I.G.N.I.T.E. benefits.
Leyrer is due back in court on August 10.
You can watch Sheriff Swanson's full Press Conference on the Genesee County Sheriff's Office Facebook page.
If you or someone you know is a victim of grooming you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673). It's free, confidential and available 24/7.
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