Stephen Jason Estes, 41, was in a county jail in Mississippi awaiting transfer to a state prison when his girlfriend, thirty-year-old Courtney Ford, handed in property for him.

Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal: “We search every item that is brought into the jail, and the property officer noticed something wrong. There was a bulge in the back cover of the Bible. We cut it open and found a powdery substance.”

The powder subsequently tested positive for meth.

Johnson said that police believe Estes conspired with Ford to smuggle the meth into the jail: “We know he knew about it because that day, he kept asking where his Bible was, even before she dropped it off.”

Ford has been charged with possession of a controlled substance and attempt to introduce contraband into a correctional facility.

Estes, who was sentenced in the previous case to 40 years with 34 suspended, is now facing a charge of conspiracy to bring contraband into a correctional facility.

“We hope to carry him back before the judge to have his sentence reconsidered,” Johnson said. “The judge could reinstate the 34 years and make him serve all 40 years.”