Contraband Shakedown Yields Pot, Electronics At McAlester Prison Dairy Farm

Prison officials say two recent shakedowns at the Jackie Brannon Correctional Center dairy farm in McAlester resulted in what they are calling a sizeable contraband haul. 

In a news release, prison officials say during the first search on December 14, officials found five duffel bags containing 57 cellphone chargers, 35 cellphones, four portable battery chargers, three ear pieces, one handheld satellite radio, two syringes, four books of rolling papers, six lighters, a one gallon bag of coffee, 170 grams of chewing tobacco and 3.5 pounds of smoking tobacco. 

In addition, the DOC says they discovered a hole in a cinder block wall covered by a mirror. Prison officials say an investigation determined inmates cut the hole to conceal contraband.  

Inside the hole, corrections officers found two cellphones and several cellphone chargers. 

In the second search on December 19, a search of the dairy farm buildings, corrections officers found another duffel bag concealed in the ceiling. The bag contained two cellphones, seven cellphone chargers, 5.9 pounds of tobacco and 51.48 grams of marijuana.

“I appreciate the officers who were able to confiscate the contraband before the items were able to make it into the prison,” said Corrections Director Joe M. Allbaugh. 

“Contraband items in prison pose a serious threat to the safety and security of an institution. The inmates who are allowed to work on the farm will be reevaluated and potentially stripped of this privilege. The inmates found with the contraband will receive write-ups, which may result in time added to their sentences.”

In addition, Allbaugh says procedures of how the inmates are monitored at the farm have been changed.