A Port Richey woman is being investigated for a Tampa drug crime after trying to do her jailed friend a favor. She may be an inmate herself soon after committing a drug crime in Tampa Bay. Kathy Marie Sharp is accused of sending her friend, a Pasco County Jail inmate, a postcard with Oxycodone concealed under the stamp. The prescription pill was mailed under the stamp in a powder form.
According to the St. Petersburg Times, the postcard was intended for Starla Espegren and was sent to the Land O’Lakes jail. Espegren is serving a nine-month jail sentence for a probation violation and failure to appear. The card containing the prescription pain killer arrived August 28 of last year. The delay in filing charges came due to the length of time it took to identify the powder under the stamp and then match fingerprints found on the postcard.
Espegren has since been released from jail but Sharp may be on her way inside after being charged with introducing contraband into a detention facility. She was arrested by Pasco County sheriffs and is being held on $7,150 bail. She was also charged with an unrelated Tampa Bay drug crime. Sharp, a 23-year-old Port Richey resident, declined to talk with investigators about the incident. According to the report, three fingerprints on the postcard were matched to Sharp.
