Inmate gets longer term for meth-soaked mail than for the crime that put him in jail

The Pierce County Jail inmate who received methamphetamine-soaked mail earlier this year will end up with a longer sentence for that than the crime he was being held for in the first place.

Rickey Yandell, 50, of Tacoma pleaded guilty last week to unlawful possession of a controlled substance in Pierce County Superior Court, receiving a two-year prison term from Court Commissioner Meagan Foley.

In January, Yandell had received a suspicious letter, which a corrections deputy had a K-9 unit investigate.

The dog was drawn to Yandell’s letter despite it being placed with nine other letters on the floor. The dog was taken to Yandell’s cell, where it found a second letter, of which the bottom third had been torn off.

Both letters tested positive for meth.

Yandell was in Pierce County Jail after having been arraigned in November 2016 on charges of residential burglary and second-degree possession of stolen property. He pleaded guilty last week to those cases as well, with the burglary charge being reduced to first-degree trespassing.

For those crimes, he was credited with time served and given a 364-day suspended sentence.

This story was originally published July 27, 2017 at 2:58 PM with the headline "Inmate gets longer term for meth-soaked mail than for the crime that put him in jail."