MALONE, Fla. (WTXL) - A former food service staff member at a local correctional facility has been arrested, accused of working with an inmate in a scheme to smuggle in drugs.
The Florida Department of Corrections’ (FDC) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) says former food service employee Willie Mae Joiner has been arrested.
Joiner is charged with unlawful compensation and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
According to a probable cause document, an inmate was found with a phone back in March 2017. Before officers were able to seize it, the inmate broke the phone, however, the device was taken to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement so data could be successfully extracted.
In that data, officers discovered that Joiner and the inmate had been texting each other and were involved in a scheme to smuggle in contraband into the facility.
An investigation revealed Joiner received 22 money transfers between January and March 2017 from people associated with several different inmates.
After speaking with a witness, investigators learned that packages of contraband, which included cartons of cigarettes and pills believed to be Xanax, were being delivered to Joiner's house so they could be smuggled via a body cavity inside the facility.
Once smuggled in, the contraband was sold to the rest of the population by the unidentified inmate involved in the operation.
Based on the evidence, Joiner was arrested on Friday and charged with 22 counts of unlawful compensation and one count of unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
Following the arrest, she was transported to the Jackson County Jail.
