Former Lubbock detention officer indicted for smuggling contraband into jail, 2 others facing charges

An investigation that began when detention officers found drugs in a jail pod, resulted in the arrests of three jail employees, including a detention officer, who are accused of smuggling contraband into the jail.

A Lubbock County grand jury on Tuesday returned an indictment against 26-year-old Alsires Genaro Betancur III, a former Lubbock County detention officer, for a count of providing a prohibited substance in a correctional facility, a third-degree felony that carries a punishment of two to 10 years in prison.

Betancur was arrested Tuesday about 11 a.m., according to a Lubbock County Sheriff's Office news release.

His charge stems from an sheriff's office investigation into illegal narcotics and contraband inside the detention center, officials said.

However, Betancur was indicted for smuggling tobacco products into the jail, according to court documents.

Detention center Chief Cody Scott said Betancur, who was fired Aug. 23, began working at the jail in October 2021. Before that he worked as a prison guard for three years.

Scott said investigators believe Betancur was providing tattoo pens and tobacco for inmates.

"All things that are not allowed into the correction facility," he said.

He said inmates often look to exploit a detention officer's weaknesses and often ask them to bring in negligible -- but still prohibited -- items into the jail such as tobacco, alcohol and money.

"For whatever reason, (Betancur) took to heart what they were saying and complied," Scott said.

However, once a detention officer smuggles the items, inmates will use it to extort more serious contraband, such as drugs, from the officer.

"It's kind of a trap," Scott said. "That's how they play this game. It could be officers, it could be contract staff. We have to stay on our toes."

However, in Betancur's case, he was arrested before he brought in anything more serious.

Betancur is one of three suspects investigators believe smuggled contraband into the Lubbock County Detention Center.

Miranda Therese Castillo and Zhane Zaquira Marshall were arrested Oct. 13 on similar charges, sheriff's officials said. The two face class B misdemeanor count of providing contraband to inmates at a correctional facility by an employee or volunteer. Castillo and Marshall worked as pill technicians employed by a healthcare provider contracted at the jail.

Their arrests were the second of its kind in two weeks.

However, Lubbock County Sheriff Kelly Rowe said the case is unrelated to the the investigation that led to the Sept. 27 arrest of former jailer Taylor Millett in connection with her role in a plan to smuggle fentanyl into the detention center.

According to court documents investigators believe Castillo was being paid by a jail inmate to smuggle drugs into the jail.

Court records indicate the scheme started in July. However, the investigation began on Aug. 3 at the Lubbock County Detention Center after a confidential source told investigators that drugs were in a jail pod.

A shakedown of the pod yielded about 5.5 grams of a substance believed to be methamphetamine and 1.7 grams of suspected cocaine, according to court documents. The drugs were found in the day room and not on any inmates.

Officers also searched inmates assigned to the pod. Officers found on Christopher Thomas a note with Castillo's name and a phone number on one side and a note saying, "$RandaMendoza/ I'll continue to do it when you leave, I'm familiar with this!"

About a week before the shakedown Thomas was sentenced to 45 years in prison after pleading guilty to a count of murder for his role in the April 10, 2019, home-invasion robbery that killed 20-year-old Tyshaun Bates in his apartment in the 4600 block of 50th Street.

Thomas was held at the jail since his April 2019 arrest and was taken to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on Sept. 13 to begin serving the remainder of his sentence at the Middleton Unit.

Officers searched Castillo and found a letter from Thomas discussing a plan to smuggle contraband into the jail.

Castillo who a contact employee for WellPath and worked as a pill technician at the Lubbock County Detention Center, reportedly told investigators she also spoke with Thomas through the jail's phone system and admitted to being paid by Thomas to smuggle contraband into the jail.

However, Castillo reportedly denied going through with the plan.

Investigators also found transactions between Thomas and Castillo on the online payment app, Cash App.

The investigation into Castillo revealed Betancur and Marhsall's alleged contraband cases, Scott said.

"As they were looking at different leads this one popped up," he said.

Meanwhile, jail records indicate Betancur and Marshall were added as suspects in the investigation.

At this point, there is no evidence that other detention officers have been turned, Scott said.

"I think (the investigators) ran down every lead they had and this is the outcome," he said.

Scott said the cases did not affect the detention center's contract with WellPath but it did provide an opportunity for the jail staff to look at ways to improve security.

"It really makes us look at what we're doing security-wise," he said. "We have drug testing that we do, random drug searches of the staff, a body scanner similar to what's at the airport. What else can we do to prevent these?"

Betancur remains held at the Lubbock County Detention Center, his bond is set at $5,000. Jail records show Castillo and Marshall are no longer being held at the jail.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Former Lubbock detention officer indicted