Jail employee in Mecklenburg County accused of giving illegal items to person in custody
Another detention officer with the Mecklenburg County Detention Center has been fired and criminally charged for allegedly providing illegal items to a person in custody, according to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office says Goodwin Stuppard is accused of “providing a cell phone and smuggling tobacco products to a resident” in the jail.
It’s the second arrest of an MCSO detention officer in two days. Channel 9 reported Monday that former MCSO employee Samara Black was fired and arrested for allegedly bringing a cell phone to an inmate.
RELATED: Employee at Meck jail arrested after giving inmate contraband, authorities say
According to the sheriff’s office, detectives got a tip that Stuppard was smuggling illegal items into the jail, so an investigation was opened. The sheriff’s office says Stuppard admitted to providing tobacco products and “charging a cellular phone and giving it back” to an inmate.
State law prohibits incarcerated individuals from having a cellphone. It is also a felony for someone to provide a phone or other communications device to someone in custody at a local confinement facility.
Authorities say Stuppard had been with MCSO since December 2015.
