LANCASTER, SC — A Fort Mill man who was formerly a correctional officer at the Lancaster County Detention Center has been charged with bringing contraband into the prison.
Christopher Sweet, 33, was arrested Monday night and served warrants Tuesday charging him with Furnishing Contraband to a County Prisoner and Misconduct in Office.
On January 2nd, officials say a cell phone was found in the common area of a cell while officers were conducting a search. After examining the phone’s contents and conducting multiple interviews, investigators identified Sweet as the suspect.
Sweet was interviewed Monday evening regarding the incident, and then placed under arrest and fired from his position.
Officials say Sweet’s charges accuse him of bringing cell phones, chargers, marijuana, cigarettes, cigarette lighters, and “blunt spray,” which is used to mask the smell of marijuana and cigarette smoke, into the detention center and making them available to inmates. Investigators believe these items were brought in several times between September 2017 and the end of the year.
Sheriff Barry Faile released the following statement about the incident:
“Contraband in jails and prisons is a huge safety concern. Seemingly harmless items can be used as currency for commerce among inmates, give some inmates advantages over others, and create disputes among inmates. These activities create danger to inmates, corrections staff, and the public who might be in the facility. Cell phones are particularly onerous and allow inmates to communicate outside the walls to arrange all sorts of improper and illegal activities.
We thoroughly investigate the backgrounds of correctional officer candidates with the intent to weed out those who might fall to the temptations offered by certain inmates. Once an inmate has compromising information on a correctional officer, that correctional officer becomes a liability.
Mr. Sweet stepped into this trap. His actions were intolerable, and he put his coworkers at risk. I am deeply disappointed at this turn of events and took immediate action to see that Mr. Sweet was terminated and that appropriate criminal charges were
made against him.”
Officials say sweet had been employed as a correctional officer since November 2015.
