Ex-Clinton aide named in prison case

updated 9:23 p.m. ET Aug. 12, 2009

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A former chief of staff for Bill Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas faces felony charges accusing her of trying to smuggle a knife and 48 tattoo needles onto the state's death row.

The charges against Betsey Wright come as The Associated Press obtained documents showing death-row inmate allegedly passed love letters and contraband to a guard with whom he committed a sex act. Combined, the events represent just the latest in a series of high-profile incidents at the state prison system, ranging from two convicted murderers escaping in guard uniforms to a man being shot to death at a contraband checkpoint.

Wright, a longtime visitor to death row at the state's Varner Unit, was arrested May 22 after a guard noticed a small knife and a box cutter attached to her key chain, said prison spokeswoman Dina Tyler. A loose ink pen she had contained tweezers with sharpened edges, Tyler said. Inside a bag of Doritos, the guard found 48 tattoo needles.

In an interview with the AP, Wright denied the charges against her.

"They think it's me, but it's not," Wright said. "I certainly did not do what they have charged me with."

Prosecutors file 51 charges
An Arkansas State Police report shows Wright claimed she found the Doritos bag lying in the bottom of a vending machine at the prison and told guards, "I guess you don't get nothing free."

Prosecutors filed the 51 charges Tuesday against Wright, who is expected to turn herself in to authorities in the coming days. Prosecutors say a court hearing will be set after that.

Wright, 66, of Rogers, Ark., is a vocal death penalty opponent who served as chief of staff for Clinton, who presided over four executions as governor. During his 1992 presidential campaign, Wright handled what she described as the "bimbo eruptions" — rumors that Clinton had had extramarital affairs.

After Clinton became president, Wright worked at a lobbying firm in Washington before returning to Arkansas.

Tyler said Wright never had the knife or the box cutter attached to her keys during her regular visits to the Varner Unit, located about 90 miles southeast of Little Rock.

The spokeswoman said homemade tattoos represent one of the fastest ways to spread hepatitis.

"Inside of a prison, not only could (tattoo needles) potentially be a weapon, but they most definitely can be a health hazard," Tyler said.

Love letters and crackers
Meanwhile, a state Freedom of Information Act request by the AP uncovered details of the firing of Varner Unit guard Danita Williams in July. A letter by the warden claimed she helped the unnamed death-row inmate trade crackers in a laundry bag for soup from another prisoner. However, an internal investigation uncovered allegations that a romantic relationship between Williams and the inmate began at least in April as she guarded him during the graveyard shift.

An anonymous letter reached chief prison deputy director Ray Hobbs on May 29 and another, more detailed letter surfaced in June, alleging Williams had an inappropriate relationship with the inmate, the internal report reads.

The second letter claimed the death-row inmate performed a sex act with Williams during the April 28 night shift.

The detailed letter alleged other guards delivered love letters from the inmate to Williams, that Williams personally delivered a package to him and that she ferried a pillow case carrying goods from the commissary for the inmate, the report reads. The anonymous tipster also told officials that surveillance camera footage would confirm the allegations.

The internal affairs report by prison investigator Ronald Vilches shows a prison lieutenant noticed Williams' request to guard the inmate's area April 23. Vilches wrote that Williams "went straight" to the inmate's cell. The lieutenant also said Williams admitted passing the laundry bag full of goods to another inmate.

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