Houston murder suspect used CashApp to sell drugs in county jail

Where there's a will, there's a way. Just ask the officers at the Harris County Jail.

Attorneys with the Harris County District Attorney's Office recently announced that they had filed charges against three people for their involvement in a complex drug deal that involved smuggling drugs into the Harris County Jail.

Joshua Sinclair Owens, 35, is believed to have run a complex drug trafficking operation behind bars, selling paper laced with synthetic marijuana to other inmates. How the drugs got into the facility is unknown.

Owens had his customers pay for the narcotics through a CashApp account. Recorded calls showed that two family members managed the money in the account. Owens' stepsister, 31-year-old Lativia Armiss Bailey, and his 42-year-old cousin Nathanael Campbell transferred the money to his cafeteria account through a kiosk.

The investigation was sparked by a series of deaths from fentanyl overdoses in early February 2024. Court documents obtained by ABC 13 show that investigators began listening in on phone conversations between relatives that same month. Then, during a search of Owens' cell, contraband was found.

However, the foundation for the money laundering charge lies in the ever-increasing amounts of money deposited into the inmate's account. According to authorities, Owen's cash account balance was $200 in October 2023. In June 2024, the balance was nearly $30,000.

“(Owens) is currently making thousands and thousands of dollars in the Harris County Jail through the smuggling, distribution and sale of drugs inside the jail,” one of the Harris County District Attorney's Office prosecutors said at a July 23 news conference.

Owens has been in the Harris County Jail since 2022, where he is accused of numerous violent crimes, including murder. His co-conspirators Bailey and Campbell are also accused of involvement in organized crime.

All three face life imprisonment for the crime they are accused of.

It is unknown how the synthetic marijuana ended up in the Harris County Jail, and prosecutors say the investigation is far from over. District Attorney Kim Ogg says Owen's drug trafficking is suspected, but not proven, of being linked to several deaths of inmates at the facility from fentanyl overdoses.

“It's not over yet. We hope to file more charges in the future,” said Kimberly Smith, a prosecutor in the DA's Public Corruption Unit.