He told prison guards they were ankle braces.
But just before his arrest, a Shelbyville man working as a teacher at the Kentucky State Reformatory admitted to police that he had a pound of tobacco pressed, bundled and taped to each foot.
It’s a process police say James H. Petrey, 62, has repeated at least four times per month during the four years he’s worked as a teacher behind prison gates.
And the sum of his efforts is surprising – two pounds per trip, four trips per month and a price tag of $350 per pound.