BY TIM WILLERT twillert@opubco.com
Several current and former detention officers are suspected of selling drugs, tobacco, tools and cellphones to inmates at the Oklahoma County jail in exchange for prepaid cash cards, court papers filed Wednesday reveal.
A sheriff's investigator, in a search warrant affidavit, said evidence “suggests” that ex-detention officers Miah N. Dukes and Timothy R. Oakes Jr., “as well as unidentified detention officers and inmates, are part of an ongoing criminal enterprise” in which the officers make contact with inmates, friends and family to arrange payment for smuggled contraband.
The officers “receive payment by way of reloadable fund cards” used by inmates to buy food, candy and phone privileges, according to the affidavit.
Sheriff John Whetsel called the allegations “a disappointment.”
“It's a shame that someone would throw away their law enforcement career over a few hundred bucks,” Whetsel said.
The investigation is ongoing and could result in criminal charges being filed against other jail employees, said Mark Myers, spokesman for the sheriff's office.
“If investigators believe others are involved, there is a very strong likelihood that there could be additional people charged,” he said.
Dukes, 20, a female detention officer, was fired Dec.
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