Inmate Dies After Girlfriend Passes Meth to Him During Kiss

An inmate in an Oregon prison died after sharing a meth-laden kiss with his girlfriend.

Anthony Powell, 41, died after his girlfriend, Melissa Ann Blair, passed him seven tiny balloons filled with methamphetamine into his mouth during a kiss. Two of the balloons later ruptured in his stomach and he died of methamphetamine toxicity, the New York Post reports.

The incident occurred during a visit last year at the Oregon State Penitentiary, where Powell had been serving a life sentence for aggravated murder in the stabbing death of his mother-in-law.

“Now, because of the choices that were made, I no longer can pick up the phone and hear his voice, I can’t go on a visit and see his big cheesy smile and get the best hug in the world,” Powell’s close friend, Brandy Pokovich, said in a victim impact statement. “He was not just an inmate. He was a very loved and cared-for person who had a family that would always be there no matter what.”

Blair, 46, did not make a statement in court, but her attorney claimed that she felt coerced by Powell, stating that it was a “very Svengali-type situation where he had total control over her life. She had to do whatever he said.”

Blair has been sentenced to two years in federal prison. She has also been ordered to three years of post-release supervision as well as participate in drug treatment and mental health programs.