HOUMA -- An inmate’s death as the possible result of a jailhouse drug-smuggling ring led a Terrebonne judge to continue holding the man’s mother and a jailer also implicated in the scheme unless either can pay a quarter-million dollar bond.

Roxanne Lirette, 44, and former Terrebonne corrections officer Stephen Lirette, 20, appeared separately in court Monday, each unsuccessfully requesting a reduction of their $250,000 bonds. The two, who are not known to be related, were arrested and charged with introduction of contraband into a correctional institution Feb. 12, two days after the death of 27-year-old inmate Jeremy Walker.

Walker, who was discovered dead in his cell by another inmate, has been described by authorities as orchestrating a plot to smuggle drugs into the jail. His accomplices on the outside, authorities said, were his mother and two corrections officers, first Lirette and later 19-year-old Dusty Canter, who was also arrested on the same charge but able to pay his $250,000 bond the day after his arrest, Feb. 13.

Asserting the possible link between their alleged smuggling operation and Walker’s suspicious death, District Judge David Arceneaux of Houma adamantly denied requests by Roxanne Lirette and Stephen Lirette for lower bonds.

Walker’s mother appeared in court first, standing as her attorney, Craig Stewart of Houma, made her request. Toxicology reports to determine whether Walker died of drugs normally take four to six weeks and have not yet returned, so it remains unknown whether the woman’s actions indeed caused her son’s death, Stewart said.

"If the allegations against her are true, she killed her son, and I am refusing to reduce her bond," Arceneaux replied. "Apparently, had she not introduced these substances into the jail, her son might be alive."

Visibly shaken by the judge’s statements, the woman never spoke, instead allowing her attorney to answer for her. Stewart declined to comment on the ruling afterward but said Lirette was distressed by the judge’s decision.

"She’s definitely aware of the allegations," Stewart said. "She has to deal with the loss of her son, a tragedy, and the unfortunate nature of the criminal charges."

A few hours later, the former corrections officer was brought from the jail, shackled in the orange prison scrubs of the inmates he once guarded. In his bond-reduction request, attorney Jim Alcock of Houma pointed at Lirette’s lack of any prior criminal record and his status as the sole breadwinner for his wife and two children. Other inmates with grudges against the former jailer have been threatening him, Alcock said.

Lirette had been fired from the jail on an unrelated matter Jan. 31, two weeks prior to Walker’s death, Alcock said, so "it would be extremely difficult to connect" Lirette’s role in the operation to the delivery of the specific drugs that may have killed the inmate. The judge, again, disagreed.

"If this stuff had not been introduced into the jail, it might have been very difficult for Mr. Walker to die," replied the judge, maintaining the same $250,000 bond for the former jailer and the inmate’s mother. "I think she contributed to the death of her son, and I suspect you did, too."

Crying in the hallway afterward, Lirette’s wife declined to speak to a reporter, based on her attorney’s advice. Alcock said the judge’s comments to the inmate’s mother earlier in the day gave him a premonition that his client’s request for a lower bond would also be unsuccessful.

"I think when the toxicology report is turned in and when we have a copy of the investigation file, my client will be absolved of any responsibility in the death of Mr. Walker," Alcock added.

The maximum charge under state law for distributing narcotics that lead to a death is second-degree murder, which carries an automatic life sentence. Regardless of whether charges related to Walker’s death are filed, the judge told both defendants in his courtroom Monday that, if they are convicted before him, he will sentence them to the maximum five years on their drug-smuggling charges.

Contacted later by telephone, Terrebonne Sheriff Jerry Larpenter applauded the judge’s decision to keep their bonds high, noting the seriousness of the drug-distribution allegations.

As the investigation continues, another suspect was arrested in the case Friday evening, Larpenter said. Monique Champagne, 32, 203 Eureka Drive Apt. 2, Gray, is accused of supplying the drugs to be smuggled into the jail. She was arrested on the same charge, introducing contraband into a correctional facility, and her bond was set at $150,000

After Walker’s death, every inmate in his cell block was tested for drug use, and only one was positive, Larpenter said. That case will be handled by the state Department of Corrections. No actual drugs were found in a sweep of the jail, Larpenter said.

No specific policy changes are planned to prevent similar smuggling schemes in the future because Larpenter said the jail already follows strict procedures. Narcotics agents routinely pass through with drug-sniffing dogs, and jailers conduct periodic shakedowns on the inmates, Larpenter said. When the sworn officers are swayed by the prospect of easy money, however, the system can still break down, the sheriff said.