OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — There are more problems for the Osceola County jail. A new inmate was able to smuggle six pieces of crack cocaine into the jail.
An informant told jail guards that Jeffrey Townsend had the drugs, but guards waited 12 hours to search his cell. Then the jail waited another hour to call the Osceola County Sheriff's Office to report the contraband. So, now there's yet another investigation going on to find out how a cigar tube with cocaine in it got into the jail.
Townsend, 26, has several cocaine arrests on his record. When he went into the Osceola County jail last Thursday night, it was on a disorderly intoxication charge, a misdemeanor. A county spokesman told WFTV the jail does not strip search incoming inmates who are facing non-violent misdemeanor charges.
Still, the Osceola County Sheriff's Office says, on Saturday evening, an informant at the jail tipped off guards that Townsend had cocaine in his cell, but the jail waited about 12 hours before searching his cell.
When they did, Townsend wouldn't let them have his socks. He tried to put them on. When the guards looked closer at the socks, they found a small cigar tube holding what looked like cocaine and it later tested positive.
"Can you tell me why it took so long to search the cell, about twelve hours? Is the jail looking into that?" WFTV reporter Kathi Belich asked county spokesman Larry Krause.
"The jail is looking into the incident. We're conducting an internal inquiry to answer any and all questions," he said.
The jail says it did a "pat" search on Townsend and used a metal detector. But what happened after he got to his cell, how many searches were done, if they were done thoroughly, is still under investigation.
So far, this time, no one has been suspended as the jail sorts it all out.
It's not unusual for drug suspects to hide the drugs in body cavities. The jail says the only time it does body cavity searches is for medical reasons and they're done by medical professionals.
WFTV
