Big Island Police Seize Drugs After A Fatal Overdose At The Hilo Jail
Two inmates were found unresponsive in their cell, and one of them died in an apparent fentanyl overdose.
A 56-year-old Pahoa man died Thursday afternoon after he was found unresponsive in his cell in the Hilo jail in the fourth known drug-related death in the Hawaii correctional system in less than three years.
Hawaii County police said in a written statement Friday they are investigating the link between the overdose death at the Hawaii Community Correctional Center and the recent arrest of a Kona couple on fentanyl charges last week.
According to police the 56-year-old victim and a 33-year-old man were found unresponsive in their jail cell shortly before 1 p.m., and responding officers found a white powdery substance resembling fentanyl in the cell. Officers determined a third inmate was in the same cell shortly before the overdoses occurred.
Police said Izaiah Shields, 41, the third occupant of the cell, had been taken to his initial court appearance in Kona Thursday morning. While Shields was out of the facility, “the overdose involving his two cellmates occurred” and drugs believed to be fentanyl were recovered in the cell, police said.
According to the statement from police, the packaging of the drugs in the cell was consistent with suspected fentanyl recovered from Shields when he was arrested on Dec. 29.
Shields, of Kona, was intercepted with his 37-year-old girlfriend Moriah Goulette by Hawaii County vice officers on Dec. 29 at the Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport after the two arrived from San Francisco.
Police executed a search warrant on Goulette鈥檚 belongings, and vice detectives arrested Goulette at the airport after finding 4.7 grams of fentanyl.
The pair were then taken to Kona Community Hospital where they were both x-rayed, revealing 64.5 grams of packaged fentanyl concealed within Shield鈥檚 body, police said.
Both were arrested on drug charges, and police said the arrests were part of a month-long joint investigation between the federal Department of Homeland Security and county police.
After the death at HCCC, jail staff searched Goulette and recovered a clear zip-type packet from her mouth that contained a white powdery substance.
Goulette, of Kona, was then arrested Thursday for first-degree promotion of prison contraband, and was being held Friday in the Hilo cellblock pending execution of a body search warrant.
Shields was returned to HCCC, where he was also arrested for first-degree promotion of prison contraband.
Police did not identify the inmate who died pending notification of next of kin, but said an autopsy is planned.
The second inmate who was found unresponsive in the jail cell was expected to make a full recovery and was returned to the custody of the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, police said.
Police said they are continuing the investigation in collaboration with Homeland Security Investigations.
Big Island Police Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz said in a statement that his department’s vice officers “did an amazing job at keeping a large amount of fentanyl off the streets.”
鈥淭his case highlights the lengths to which people will go in order to conceal drugs and other contraband. As this investigation continues, together with our federal partners, we will not stop our pursuit of those who import and distribute drugs in our communities,” he said in the statement. “They must be held accountable.鈥
