Chatham County jail contract worker charged with conspiracy, drug delivery

Following an investigation conducted by the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division (CID), former Chatham County Detention Center contract worker, Makayla Worlds, was arrested on May 10, and charged with conspiracy to commit a felony and possession by delivery to an inmate. Woods worked for Oasis, the contract company that manages the detention center’s commissary.

Worlds was paid $1,500 to bring in sheets of paper laced with drugs, CCSO Sheriff John Wilcher said at a press conference on Thursday. The buyer was located in the jail, the supplier in Wheeler County. The Criminal Investigation Division caught the crime by listening to recorded phone calls.

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The arrest comes at a time when the detention center is facing increased scrutiny for its employees and contractors' alleged illicit activities. In February, a nurse practitioner was arrested after being caught stealing medication from an inmate. Also in February, a correctional officer smuggled drugs into the jail using a Styrofoam cup filled with ice. That detention officer, Georgette Bennett, continued working at the jail five months after she told a fellow correctional officer who was training her that she had smuggled drugs at her last job as a corrections officer at Rogers State Prison in Reidsville, Georgia, and that she had been "in and out of jail in New York.” She had resigned from her old job after being accused of bringing contraband for inmates.

The arrest also comes as Wilcher requests the Chatham County Commission to provide $142,500 for Tek84, a whole-body security scanning system for the detention center. The Detention Center currently has one whole-body security scanning system located in Receiving & Discharge, which is used for detecting contraband on incoming detainees, but it "cannot provide adequate coverage."

"Contraband entering our correctional facility continues to be a serious security issue," states the request, which is an emergency procurement for deliberation by commissioners during its May 12 meeting.

According to other media reports, Worlds was denied bond Thursday morning and her next hearing is expected in June.

Drew Favakeh is the public safety reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Chatham jail contract worker arrested, charged with drug delivery