A Waterloo man has been sentenced to an extended prison term after being caught smuggling methamphetamine and Xanax into the Black Hawk County Jail, according to the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier. 49 year old Ryan Torres swallowed a bag containing both drugs after a traffic stop on May 2nd of last year. As he was being booked into the jail he was scanned by an X-ray-like machine but the operator did not notice any evidence of the bag of drugs in his system. After being booked he was able to pass the bag of drugs, which he then sold within the jail. Torres has numerous drug and theft charges dating back to the mid 90s, which exacerbated his sentence. Under the habitual offender provision, he was sentenced to up to 45 years in prison and must serve nine years before becoming eligible for parole. This sentence was on top of the sentence he was already serving for punching a man at Walmart. Altogether he will serve up to 60 years in prison and will not be eligible for parole until he serves 15 years.
