PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A Pinellas County inmate died Sunday after seven inmates, a nurse, detention officers and a paramedic were exposed to fentanyl over the weekend, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
Staff members at the Pinellas County Jail responded to a possible fentanyl exposure after four inmates in one of the pods showed symptoms, deputies said. All four inmates were taken to a hospital.
One of the inmates said, “I snorted Fentanyl” before he was taken to the hospital, according to the sheriff’s office.
In addition to the four inmates, a nurse, three detention deputies, and a Largo Fire Department paramedic were also treated for non-life-threatening symptoms of exposure, deputies said.
On Sunday, three more inmates in a second pod showed symptoms of exposure, deputies said. One of the inmates, 37-year-old Jesse Stout, was found unresponsive. The three inmates were taken to a hospital, where Stout died.
Two of the inmates remained hospitalized as of Monday afternoon, deputies said. All others were returned to the jail, which was inspected and deemed safe.
The inmates had access to fentanyl because one inmate swallowed small baggies when he was arrested, deputies said. When the drugs passed, they were distributed to other inmates in the jail.
Inmates in the second pod were asked why they took the drugs after seeing what happened to the other inmates on Saturday. They said, “because we are drug addicts,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Stout was arrested on Sept. 29 on charges of domestic battery, two counts of violation of pre-trial release, tampering with a witness and resisting an officer without violence, according to the sheriff’s office.
