Heriberto Viramontes, the man accused of beating Armagh woman Natasha McShane with a baseball bat in Chicago has been charged with smuggling contraband into prison. His girlfriend, Kira Lundgren (22) and a Cook County jail guard, Jerome Prusa (50) have also been charged with helping him.

Viramontes is currently in custody for the attempted murder of Natasha McShane. He is accused of beating her with a baseball bat and cracking her skull.

The four-foot-nine, 100 pound McShane was treated in Chicago where she had a portion of her skull removed due to brain swelling. She is now at home in Armagh where she has stuggled over the last year with infections, seizure and brain shunts.

Speaking to the Chicago Sun Times in April her father said McShane can barely move, and the one word she can say with regularity is the Irish word “sinn,” meaning “we” or “us”.
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Viramontes was charged with smuggling just moments after the drugs were brought into the facility, last month, according to the sheriff's office.

His girlfriend, Lundgren, had hidden the drugs in her shoe. She then taped the cannabis to the underside of the visitors table.

Steve Patterson, a sheriff’s spokesman, explained that Prusa has been overseeing the room at the time but was unaware that there was an undercover sting into smuggling contraband underway.

A female officer, posing as a visitor, entered the area. Lundgren had already given her cigarettes pot which was to be delivered to Viramontes cell. Prusa unlocked the doors and allowed the undercover officer into the secure part of the jail to drop off the package.

This case accidently became part of the larger sting operation. The undercover female officers also had marijuana and cigarette she was originally given to attempt to deposit in the cells however the cop did not bank on Lundgren approaching her.

Lundgren was arrested and held in custody in lieu of a $10,000 according to the Chicago Sun Times reports. Prusa was also taken into custody. He was arrested when two knives were found hidden in his uniform. Both have since been released.

Viramontes is expected in court on Friday to face the cannabis charge. He is currently being held in prison without bail for the attempted murder, aggravated battery and armed robbery charges after the night of April 2010 when Natasha McShane and Stacy Jurich were left for dead.

His former girlfriend Marcy Cruz (26) was also charged in relation to the crime.