PRISON GUARD FACES SMUGGLING CHARGE

CLINTON - A local prison guard now finds herself behind bars after
being arrested after attempting to smuggle drugs into the N.C.
Department of Corrections facility early Thursday morning, according
to information from Clinton police authorities.

Kathy Marie Turner, 41, of 189 Harmony Acres Lane, Clinton, was
charged Thursday with possession with intent to sell and deliver
marijuana, possession of a controlled substance on jail premises and
maintaining a vehicle for the storage of a controlled substance.

An employee with the Department of Corrections for the last two years,
Turner was arrested after nearly an ounce of marijuana was seized by
Clinton police and state correctional officers outside the facility on
North Boulevard Thursday.

Police were notified by prison officials Wednesday of the possibility
of a prison guard being in possession of drugs. When Turner arrived at
work, police spoke to her and a K-9 scan was conducted on her 2003
Pontiac Grand Am.

There was just drug residue found in the car during an initial search,
said Clinton police Detective Darryl Grady. However, when the shift
change for prison guards came around, at about 7 a.m., another
corrections officer found that a bag of marijuana had been thrown
underneath a parked vehicle.

Grady said that Turner admitted she had thrown the marijuana out of
her vehicle when she saw police upon her arrival at work. The
marijuana, as well as a bag of coffee grounds used in an effort to
conceal the scent of the drugs, was seized by police. There was 22.3
grams of marijuana in all, police said.

The street value of the drugs is approximately $200, however that
value normally increases by ten times the normal amount within prison
walls, police and prison officials said. So the value of the drugs was
more like $2,000, authorities said.

Grady commended prison officials and correctional officers for their
efforts in cracking down on drug activity within their facility.

"Superintendent (Lafayette) Hall and the command staff at the
corrections unit take a strong stance when it comes to illegal drugs
at their facility," said Grady, "and this arrest just shows the
professionalism and dedication of these officers when it comes to
policing their own."

Turner was placed in the Sampson County Detention Center under $25,000
secured bond.