Drugs Smuggled to Inmate by Attorney Were Sleeping Pills

A San Mateo County attorney is off the hook after all, following at the in Redwood City earlier this week.

Ericka Jordening, 43, a Pacifica attorney, was released from jail Thursday when authorities determined the drug she had slipped inmate Aaron Rauls, 43, also of Pacifica, was in fact a sleep aid that contained melatonin, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told the San Mateo County Times.

Wagstaffe told the Times that smuggling contraband is against jail rules, but it is only a crime if the item smuggled is illegal, which sleep aids are not. Therefore, charges have been dropped against Jordening, he said.

Interestingly, the Times also reveals that, in fact, Jordening is not Rauls' attorney, but rather, his girlfriend. However, Jordening used her status as a lawyer to get a face-to-face meeting with Rauls, during which she slipped him the sleeping pills.

The Times also reports that Jordening has had her law license revoked in the past for "a botched divorce."

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