NKY jailer paid $505 through Cash App to give narcotics to inmates, investigator says
A Kenton County Detention Center deputy, accused of smuggling drugs into the jail, used a Cash App account with the username "Mercedes" to receive payments for bringing contraband into the facility, an investigator said in court on Wednesday.
During a preliminary hearing, Ryan King, an agent with the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force, said the account tied to Curtis Edwards was referenced in several chirp messages, or inmate text messages to friends and family members, dating from March 11 to April 1.
He allegedly gave his account information to the inmates, according to a criminal citation.
Edwards, 26, is facing charges of promoting contraband and trafficking in a controlled substance, according to Kenton County District Court records.
His arrest came after the detention center discovered evidence indicating that drugs were being given to inmates by a jail employee, according to the Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office. An investigation by the drug strike force revealed Edwards was receiving money from people outside the jail in exchange for delivering drugs to inmates, prosecutors said in a news release.
King said agents received information that Edwards was providing meth, Percocet and Suboxone to an inmate at the jail. Court records state that when the inmate was later searched, jail staff found Suboxone concealed inside a nicotine pouch container.
Authorities apprehended Edwards as he returned to work from his lunch break early in the morning on April 7, according to the citation. He was immediately fired upon his arrest.
Edwards was then escorted by jail staff to a room where he was made to empty his pockets, the citation states. He had a blue glove filled with tobacco packets, cash and a red marijuana container that held two red balloons containing fentanyl, according to King.
The narcotics were meant to be distributed to inmates at the jail, prosecutors said.
Edwards told authorities he'd been approached by inmates and that he'd become "too friendly with them," King said, adding that Edwards stated he was asked to smuggle contraband into the facility.
Edwards admitted to meeting with a woman in Ohio to collect the fentanyl, the citation states. King said Edwards was paid $505 for the transaction.
District Judge Douglas Grothaus referred Edwards' case to a grand jury, which will consider whether to indict him.
Christopher Meier, Edwards' public defender, declined to comment Thursday afternoon when reached by The Enquirer.
The commonwealth's attorney's office has said Edwards, if convicted on both counts, faces a possible prison sentence of up to 25 years.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: NKY jailer paid through Cash App to give inmates drugs, agent says
