When law enforcement officers make an arrest, they inform the suspects to disclose any illegal substances or contraband that they may be carrying on their bodies at that point.
In most cases, if someone confesses at that time, they will only face a new misdemeanor charge. However, anything brought into a jail or penal institution without the knowledge of law enforcement then transforms into a felony.
That is true whether it is a large amount of illegal controlled substance or a singular cigarette that would be otherwise legal on the street.
The same is true for inmates already held in a detention center who obtain contraband during incarceration.
For that reason, a 62-yearold Elk City man is now facing one charge of possession of contraband within a jail.
The investigation began on August 15 at approximately 7:30 pm when a Beckham County Sheriff’s Office deputy was informed by a BCSO detention sergeant that he had placed contraband evidence on the deputy’s desk.
The deputy learned that the alleged evidence was a “white powdery substance” and had been placed inside a plastic baggie.
The investigating deputy spoke with a detention deputy who stated that he was conducting a strip search on an inmate named George Thomas in the booking area bathroom at approximately 2 pm on August 15.
The detention deputy was searching Thomas’s shirt when he observed a plastic baggie falling on the ground.
The baggie reportedly came out of the front pocket of the shirt.
Thomas was being searched because he was reportedly being booked into the Beckham County Detention Center.
The report does not state why Thomas was being booked or which agency had brought him into the Beckham County Detention Center for detainment.
The alleged contraband reportedly field-tested positive for methamphetamine. Thomas is currently being held on a $5,500 bond.
