To the Editor:

Regarding “Jail deputies released the wrong prisoner and jail gave her someone else’s drugs, sheriff says” (Sept. 26, 2025):

Why is Courtney Phillips being charged with felony escape, forgery, falsifying a business record, and criminal possession of a controlled substance?

The Post-Standard recently reported that on Aug. 8, deputies released 25-year-old Phillips from the Onondaga County Justice Center Jail. But she was the wrong person .

According to Sheriff Toby Shelley, deputies went to the incorrect cell. They did not check her wristband, which had her name and photo on it (the woman who was supposed to be released had blue hair, Phillips had blonde hair). And they mistakenly gave her a multi-day supply of Suboxone, used to treat opioid use disorder. Phillips ev

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