HOUSTON — A murder suspect in the Harris County Jail is now charged with money laundering the profits he made from selling drugs to other inmates, according to Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.
Joshua Sinclair Owens, 35, was jailed on a murder charge and five other felonies.
Ogg said Owens sold drug-laced papers to other inmates and then had family members transfer the money from his CashApp account to his commissary account.
"Almost $30,000 went through this inmate's account since he's been in jail," Ogg said in a news conference.
Owens' cousin, Nathanael Campbell, and his stepsister, Lativia Armiss Bailey, also face charges of engaging in organized crime through money laundering.
Investigators said the defendants moved the money quickly because CashApp flags large deposits.
Kimberly Smith with the HCDAO Public Corruption Division said investigators uncovered the scheme by listening to Owens' phone calls.
Fentanyl deaths in Harris County Jail
In unrelated cases, two other people, former jailer Robert Robertson and defense attorney Ronald Lewis, were arrested last year and charged with smuggling fentanyl-laced papers into the jail.
All three cases were uncovered after Sheriff Ed Gonzalez launched an ongoing investigation into a series of fentanyl overdoses and deaths inside the jail.
"It's important that we prosecute crimes like this because they pose a threat to other inmates," Ogg said. "These are the kinds of things that we see in other countries and this is the kind of criminal activity we will not tolerate."
Smith said they haven't linked any of the fentanyl deaths to Owens and the papers he allegedly smuggled into the jail were laced with marijuana and synthetic marijuana.
Prosecutors said Owens made over $28,000 by selling the drugs to other inmates between October 2023 and June 2024. The money was seized from his commissary account following the investigation.
They've asked Gonzalez to cap the amount inmates can have in their commissary accounts, which are meant to be used for things like inexpensive toiletries and snacks.
Owens charged with murder in 2008 cold case
Last June, Owens was charged in the cold case killing of a 48-year-old Houston woman. The body of Marsha Mitchell was found on June 11, 2008, near a construction site on Reed Road. She's been beaten to death. Owens was 19 at the time.
In 2022, DNA evidence implicated Owens, who was already jailed on unrelated charges, and he was charged with murder in Mitchell's death.
