DECATUR COUNTY, Ga. (WTXL)--Deputies in Decatur County say they're finding dozens of cell phones, that were almost smuggled to inmates.
It appears to be a problem that's not going away.
It's a huge problem law enforcers say they can't stop but they're trying to control it.
"We arrest one person," said Elijah McCoy, the warden at the Decatur County Prison. Someone else picks it up."
We're talking cell phones, a big business for some inmates who sell the phones and more than triple their profit.
"I've seen cell phones you can purchase for 15 bucks and there going now from what I understand for $50," said Redell Walton, an investigator with the Decatur County Sheriff's Office.
So far investigators with the Decatur County Sheriff's Office have found around 30 cell phones in the past couple of months around the county, even in their own bathroom.
"Something seemed out of place and I checked the ceiling tiles and as soon as I pushed one up, cell phones and contraband started falling out," said Walton.
Monday Deputies say they caught Ashlyn Soper in the act in the courthouse bathroom with her handbag full of this tobacco, marijuana and a cell phone.
Investigators say she planned to hide them for an inmate doing work at the courthouse.
She reportedly started planning drop offs with her boyfriend who she visited at the Decatur County Prison.
Investigators say Soper had an accomplice who was also arrested.
Deputies say it can be dangerous when inmates get there hands on these phones. It's not something the sheriff nor warden at the prison takes lightly.
They search for contraband each and every day searching inmates lockers and also having massive shakedowns for the entire prison twice a year.
Law enforcers are now warning people not to smuggle contraband to inmates or you could face felony charges.
