INDIANAPOLIS -- Police found contraband in the form of drugs, cellphones and cash at one Marion County jail over the weekend.
Sheriff John Layton said Monday that someone will be criminally charged following a Friday raid of the Marion County Jail II, located at 730 East Washington Street in Indianapolis.
Sixty deputies found heroin, $600 in cash, as well as seven cell phones, Layton told Call 6 Investigates.
“It’s a sudden infestation,” Layton told RTV6.
Jail II is operated by private contractor, Corrections Corporation of America.
Layton said they, along with Indianapolis Metropolitan Police, are investigating CCA employees as well as the inmates to try to figure out how the drugs, money and cellphones got inside.
Layton said the agency learned of a possible drug problem on October 3.
“Up until then, CCA’s been a good partner,” said Layton. “We have a few people we’re now looking at. Nobody’s out of the realm of suspicion at this point.”
Inmate Nicholas Grant, 27, died over the weekend after he was found unresponsive at Jail II.
Layton said they are investigating, but believe Grant ingested heroin during the raid
“In a way, we’re taking care of business, but they do what they can with the dope they have at the time, which ends up sometimes being catastrophic to them,” said Layton.
Call 6 Investigates has requested a copy of the city’s contract with CCA.
Layton said there are no plans to terminate the agreement at this point.
“The taxpayers do pay quite a bit, but when you’re talking about 1,150-1,200 inmates a day that does take a lot of money to run,” said Layton. “I’m sure there will be some investigation, but at this point there’s been no talk about taking that contract away. I think we need to fix what’s broken.”
Layton said they are monitoring the facility and boosting checks for contraband.
“We continue to keep the pressure on Jail II and the inmates in there to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said Layton. “Somebody is going to go to jail over this. We are determined to make sure someone comes to justice. This can’t go on.”
CCA declined an interview with Call 6 Investigates and did not respond to questions about the drugs found inside Jail II.
FULL STATEMENT FROM CCA:
At 9:52 pm, October 14, 2016, Inmate Nicholas Grant, 27 years old, was found unresponsive in his housing unit at Marion County Jail 2. CCA medical staff responded immediately , began life-saving measures and requested emergency medical assistance.
Inmate Grant was declared deceased at 10:34 pm, following resuscitation efforts by responding emergency medical personnel.
CCA is cooperating fully with the investigation into the incident being conducted by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the Marion County Coroner's Office, the Marion County Forensic Services Agency, and the Marion County Office.
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