York murderer pleads guilty, tried to have opioids smuggled into prison

May 15—A York City man serving a state prison sentence for third-degree murder has admitted to trying to have a narcotic drug smuggled into York County Prison.

George "Toot" Rainey pleaded guilty Wednesday in York County Court to one count of conspiracy to possess prison contraband, a second-degree felony, according to court records.

He was sentenced to three to six years in prison and given 519 days' credit for time served, according to defense attorney Heather Reiner.

That sentence runs concurrently with his state prison sentence of 21 1/2 to 43 years for the 2008 murder of Dion Williams in York City.

Police originally alleged that Rainey was involved in a second attempt to have suboxone smuggled into the county prison, but he didn't plead to that charge and denies the former allegation, Reiner said.

Charges related to that second purported attempt were dropped Wednesday after Rainey pleaded guilty, according to court records.

Suboxone is an opioid used to help opioid addicts in recovery, but like any opioid painkiller, it can also be abused.

Police said that on June 10, 2019, Rainey had a woman named Jahtavia Chantel Evans smuggle four strips of suboxone into York County Prison, hidden in the shoes she was delivering for him.

Shoe lining glued: But a prison corrections officer noticed that the lining in one of the shoes had been glued, which caused him to examine the shoe more closely, police said. After pulling back the lining, he found the suboxone and confiscated it, court documents state.

Police said Rainey's brother, Terrance "Skeet" Rainey, contacted Evans about smuggling suboxone into the prison. Terrance Rainey gave Evans the pair of shoes to take in, according to court documents.

George Rainey made a number of prison calls about the suboxone-smuggling plan, documents state.

Terrance Rainey, 33, of York, had been facing felonies including drug possession with intent to deliver and contraband charges, but those were dismissed Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to the misdemeanors of illegal possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, court records state.

He was sentenced to two years of probation.

The case against Evans, 29, also of York, remains active, according to court records. She's also facing felony charges including drug possession with intent to deliver and bringing contraband into a prison.

Her next court date is a pretrial conference scheduled for June 15.

Four trials, 1 murder: George Rainey was convicted in December 2010 of killing Dion Williams, 25, of South Carolina, who was in York visiting relatives when he was gunned down.

That was Rainey's fourth trial for the murder.

His first ended in mistrial. At the end of his second trial, in March 2009, he and brother Eugene "Pug" Rainey, were convicted of third-degree murder and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison.

But the state Superior Court later overturned George Rainey's conviction and ordered he receive a third trial. The appeals court determined his former defense attorney should have been allowed to withdraw from the case because he'd previously represented a prosecution witness.

At his third trial, a jury convicted George Rainey of the conspiracy charge but deadlocked on the murder charge, forcing the fourth trial.

York City Police said George Rainey, driving a Cadillac Escalade, chased down a car Williams was a passenger in and cut it off on Carlin Avenue, an alley near the intersection of Maple and Duke streets.

Eugene Rainey then got out of the Escalade and fatally shot Williams, police said.

Two witnesses testified Williams previously burglarized George Rainey's home and stole jewelry belonging to Rainey's children.

— Reach senior crime reporter Liz Evans Scolforo at levans@yorkdispatch.com or on Twitter at @LizScolforoYD.

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