Jasper County corrections officer accused of handing out contraband to inmate, SLED says

Sofia Sanchez
Fernando Salazar/The Wichita Eagle

A corrections officer at the Jasper County Detention Center faces several charges after admitting to being paid to pass along contraband to an inmate, according to a South Carolina Law enforcement Division news release.

Cody Smith, 30, of Ridgeland, was charged with furnishing or possessing contraband and misconduct in office.

Smith has been accused of arranging to meet with an unidentified person via text message and was paid to receive contraband which he then gave to a detention center inmate, according to a warrant. Smith allegedly hid the contraband in his coat pocket before waiting until the middle of his shift, a time when inmates are in their cells, to slide the items into the cell. Smith handed out the items on several occasions spanning from June to July 2022, officials said Thursday in the warrant.

Jasper County Detention Center Arthur Benjamin requested that SLED investigate on Aug. 9, 2022, according to SLED spokesperson Renée Wunderlich.

Benjamin could not be immediately reached for comment.

Wunderlich declined to release information regarding the amount Smith was allegedly paid to dole out this contraband and the items that he received.

Smith was in custody at the detention center in Jasper County as of Thursday afternoon.

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