As many people know, getting contraband in jail is very common. I have heard many stories from inmates in the Pasco County Jail that cigarettes and drugs a readily available in the jail. And although I have no confirmation of it, the inmates tell me it's the guards who are smuggling it in.
In Sheriff Bob White's most recent way to save tax people dollars, he arrested one of his own deputies for giving chewing tobacco to inmates who are building a airlane hanger for his aviation unit. Technically, this is illegal and is called Introduction of contraband into a Detention Facility. The deputy also allegedly allowed the inmates girlfriends to bring smokeless tobacco to the building site.
Note that the deputy was not in the jail, but rather off site. Does this still count? Yes - according to Brooks v. State, a First District Court of Appeal case from 1988, an inmate can be convicted of Introduction or possession of contraband when he's of the jail property on a work release program. The question really is: can the guard be prosecuted for this?
Florida Statute 951.22 says it is unlawful to introduce contraband "except through regular channels as duly authorized by the sheriff or the officer in charge." Because they were off site, wasn't he the officer in charge?
Here's a guard who was just trying to be a nice guy and he gets arrested for it. No good deed goes unpunished.
