Former deputy prosecutor charged with rendering criminal assistance

The Washington state Attorney General’s Office has formally charged a former Spokane County deputy prosecutor with rendering criminal assistance to a felon she gave a bikini photo to while he was in jail. Marriya Wright has been charged with the crime, a gross misdemeanor, following her resignation from the Prosecutor’s Office last month, the Attorney General’s Office announced in a news release. The charge carries maximum penalties of 364 days in jail and a fine of $5,000. Authorities searched the Spokane County Jail cell of inmate Matthew Baumrucker in April after jail employees noted Wright made frequent visits to the 31-year-old, though she was not involved professionally in his case. Baumrucker was arrested in March facing charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He awaits trial on that charge in a federal courtroom. Court records under seal until August detail meetings and text messages between Wright and Baumrucker when police were looking for the 31-year-old convicted felon, who has the word “criminal” tattooed across his forehead. A witness told police that a woman matching Wright’s description picked them up and drove them to a mobile home in Spokane Valley when an outstanding warrant had been issued for Baumrucker’s arrest, according to court documents. A jail guard told investigators he saw Baumrcuker with a photo of Wright, who is a competitive bodybuilder, in a bikini. The pair met multiple times in an interview room at the jail where attorneys and inmates are able to exchange documents, according to court records. Wright has no other listed criminal history.