TYLER, Texas — A Smith County inmate sentenced to 12 years in prison for killing two people in a wreck while under the influence of cocaine has pleaded guilty to his involvement in a Smith County Jail smuggling ring.
Tommy Joe Allen, 61, pleaded guilty to engaging in organized crime on Wednesday in the 114th District Court.
He was among several inmates charged for accusations of participating in smuggling contraband into the jail in 2020 alongside former detention officer Lance Watson.
In 2020, Allen entered a guilty plea to intoxication manslaughter in connection with a January 2019 wreck and was then sentenced to 12 years. Motorcyclist Michael Anthony Gonzalez, 26, and Allen’s passenger Susan Allen died because of the crash.
He received a two-year prison sentence for the organized crime charge Wednesday. That sentence will be served at the same time as the manslaughter charge. According to jail records, he received 631 days of credit for time served.
Watson was originally arrested for having a prohibited substance within a correctional facility on March 5, 2020. An investigation showed he delivered cans of tobacco sandwiched between the buns of fast food hamburgers in his lunch box, according to the sheriff’s office.
Officials found tins of tobacco and peanut butter jars with a tube of razor blades inside jail cells. There were also security tools that were used to remove screws from an intercom. The opening was then used to move contraband into the jail cell, Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said.
Two months after his arrest, Watson was then charged with organized crime along with eight state and federal inmates housed in the Smith County Jail.
Watson’s trial date has been set for May 9. He has been in the Gregg County Jail since May 26, 2020, according to jail records.
Two of the other inmates who were arrested, Cayman Marshall and Cody Wallace, had their charges dismissed. Both were previously charged with possession of prohibited substance in a correctional facility.
Inmate James Brunelle was arrested for organized crime in May 2020, according to the sheriff’s office, but online records show he has not been indicted, or formally charged.
Jose Medrano-Clarke, Angel Torres-Caicedo, Joshua Bates and Alex Arnold were all indicted for organized crime in May 2020.
Bates and Arnold entered guilty pleas in court, and Bates received eight years in prison while Arnold got 10 years’ probation, according to judicial records. No hearing or trial date has been set for Medrano-Clarke or Torres-Caicedo.
