BEAUMONT, Texas — A former Jefferson County corrections officer has been arrested for smuggling drugs into the Jefferson County Correctional Facility.
Aliea Hemphill was arrested after the facility noticed there was a sudden influx of controlled substances being used by inmates, according to Jefferson County Sheriff Zena Stephens.
"It makes sense to us because we start seeing an influx of substances being brought into our facility in the past three or four months," said Stephens.
They followed up on leads that turned out to be accurate, according to Stephens.
"Just based on tips and information that we received, we did an investigation and set up our narcotics division to be here to kind of follow up on that stuff. The information we were receiving... along with our staff and certainly it paid off on Saturday," said Stephens.
On Saturday, December 9, 2023 officers arrested and booked Hemphill when she showed up to her shift.
She had been smuggling K2, a synthetic marijuana drug, among others, according to Stephens.
Hemphill had been working at the corrections facility since June 2023. Stephens says any corrections officer can end up on the wrong side of the law.
"These guys and girls sit in jail and they have all day to pick up on vulnerabilities of people who work there," said Stephens. "It's a reflection of society. You always have that element of people that can easily be bought off,"
Stephens says it's her duty to protect the inmates and her employees.
"I take it personal. You put them in a dangerous situation," she said.
A compromised employee could affect the community's trust in the corrections system and it opens a door for bigger problems, Stephens told 12News.
"If you're smuggling drugs in, then you could be compromised to smuggle weapons in. I take that very seriously. And we're going to prosecute to the full measure of the law anybody that we catch pretending to be a good guy, and in fact, you're a bad guy," Stephens said.
Hemphill is being charged with smuggling a controlled substance in a correctional facility.
"It's always hard to figure out who's doing it, but you start looking at patterns," Stephens said.
Hemphill made bail and is currently out on a $20,000 bond, according to Stephens.
The investigation is still ongoing.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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