On April 3, the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office received a call from the Calhoun County Correctional Institution in reference to a Correctional Officer in possession of suspected illegal contraband. Deputy Reece Dew responded to the institution. Deputy Dew initially took the report and contacted Drug Investigator Colby Beck to further investigate the incident. Investigators with the North Star Multijurisdictional Drug Task Force then responded.
It was determined that Correctional Officer Amanda Thomas introduced into the Institution approximately 31.4 grams of suspected MDMA and approximately 37.6 grams of suspected synthetic Marijuana. Officer Thomas originally admitted that she was in possession of the contraband but stated that she had retrieved the contraband from a restroom within the prison and was to move it to the staff canteen where she would give it to an inmate. Investigators believed that Thomas was being deceptive with her account of how the contraband became in her possession.
After being questioned by Investigators. Thomas redacted her original statement and admitted she had introduced the contraband into the prison to give to an inmate. Thomas was then placed under arrest and transported to Calhoun County Jail for booking. Thomas was charged with a first-degree Felony for Trafficking MDMA. A field test of the MDMA also gave a presumptive positive result for the presence of Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine but 50 to 100 times more potent. Both substances will be sent to the FDLE crime lab for further testing. Pending lab results, charges are pending at this time.
