Chatham County jail contract worker fired, arrested and charged with smuggling drugs

Drew Favakeh, Savannah Morning News
Updated ·2 min read
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A look from the second level down to the common area at one of the newly refurbished wings inside Unit One at the Chatham County Detention Center.
A look from the second level down to the common area at one of the newly refurbished wings inside Unit One at the Chatham County Detention Center.

On Wednesday, a former contract worker employed by the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) was arrested and charged with smuggling drugs into the Chatham County Detention Center (CCDC). Sheriff John Wilcher announced Wednesday in a press release that he terminated and arrested the former Summit Food contract employee, Indonesia Bell, following "a shakedown in the kitchen on March 11, 2024."

The CCSO's Criminal Investigation Division (CID) established the possibility of drugs entering the facility. Bell was interviewed and admitted to accepting payments from detainees’ family members and associates.

“As the Sheriff of Chatham County, I want to clarify that there hasn't been a noticeable increase in drugs entering our facility," Wilcher said, according to the press release. "What we are witnessing, however, is a testament to the investigative skill and dedication of our Criminal Investigation Division.”

The arrest of Bell is at least the fifth arrest of a former CCSO corrections officer or contract worker hired at the CCSO within the past two years.

On March 5, a former CCSO corrections officer, Megan Barbee, was arrested and charged with smuggling drugs. In February 2023, a nurse practitioner was arrested after being caught stealing medication from an inmate. Also in February 2023, a corrections officer smuggled drugs into the jail using a Styrofoam cup filled with ice. That corrections officer, Georgette Bennett, was alleged to have smuggled drugs at her previous job at Rogers State Prison in Reidsville, Georgia. In May 2023, a jail contract worker for Oasis, the private company that manages the detention center’s commissary, was paid $1,500 to bring in sheets of paper laced with drugs.

In September 2023, two inmate deaths were attributed to drug overdoses, according to CCDC officials. In 2021, the sheriff's office moved to an electronic mail system because of the prevalance of fentanyl-laced mail.

This is an ongoing investigation, and more charges and arrests are likely to follow, according to the press release.

"We just don't want to catch the employee," Chief Deputy Gary Taylor said in a phone call. "We want to catch the person outside the facility. So, that aspect of the case has been turned over to [the Counter Narcotics Team]."

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

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Chatham County GA jail contract worker arrested for drug smuggling