PORTLAND – A Portland woman has been indicted on a charge of smuggling methadone to a Cumberland County Jail inmate who subsequently died of a drug overdose.

Lindsay Holden, 20, could face up to five years in prison if convicted of trafficking in prison contraband and furnishing methadone to Brian Whitehouse in May 2002.

Holden faced her first appearance yesterday in Cumberland County Superior Court.

Whitehouse, 30, was the first overdose death at the current jail since it opened in 1994. At the time, he was staying in the pre-release center.

Authorities suspect Holden slipped Whitehouse methadone in the form of a wafer during a visit. The following morning, corrections officers found Whitehouse unresponsive and were unable to resuscitate him.

Whitehouse’s death led the county sheriff’s office to overhaul its visitation and drug-testing policies at the pre-release center, which acts as a transition between jail and society.

The jail now tests inmates weekly for a wider range of drugs, allows the delivery of personal care items only within the first three days of an inmate’s arrival at the center and limits the number of visitors at one time so they can be more closely monitored.