By Corey Friedman
Richmond County Daily Journal
POLKTON, N.C. — Police say a Brown Creek Correctional Institution prison guard was caught trying to smuggle marijuana and painkillers for an inmate.
Travis Terez Hubbard of Wingate was arrested early Monday after an entrance screening at the medium-security Anson County prison, Polkton Police Chief Matthew Norris said. Brown Creek administrators called police to the facility around 6 a.m.
When officers arrived and spoke with the assistant superintendent, Hubbard ran out of the administrative building to his car and tried to drive away, Norris said. Polkton police stopped Hubbard and searched the correctional officer and his vehicle.
Polkton officers say they found about 1.5 ounces of marijuana in Hubbard’s car, which Norris said was “packaged to deliver to an inmate.” Prison staff traced Hubbard’s steps and found a package containing an ounce of marijuana and 18 suboxone strips near the location where Hubbard’s car had been parked, Norris said.
Suboxone is a semi-synthetic opioid prescribed for pain management and is often used to treat addiction to opioid painkillers. North Carolina classifies the drug as a Schedule III controlled substance.
Polkton police arrested Hubbard on two counts of attempting to provide inmates with a controlled substance and one count each of possession of a Schedule IV controlled substance, possession of a Schedule III controlled substance, felony possession of marijuana and resisting, delaying or obstructing an officer.
He was booked into the Anson County Jail in Wadesboro under an $80,000 secured bond and is scheduled to appear in court on the charges Jan. 5.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
Built in 1990, Brown Creek was expanded in 1994 and 2008 and merged with the former Anson Correctional Center in December 2009. It currently houses 916 medium-custody and 308 minimum-custody male inmates in separate facilities on its campus.
The prison has a staff of 373 correctional officers, administrators and support staff, according to the N.C. Department of Public Safety.
Copyright 2015 the Richmond County Daily Journal