PRISON GUARD FACES DRUG CHARGE

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A prison guard faces a felony drug charge after he
was caught trying to bring 6 ounces of marijuana to work with him,
authorities said.

Michael Cook, 38, was arrested Monday and charged with distributing
marijuana into a prison. He told investigators he had brought drugs to the
Missouri State Penitentiary one other time, Cole County Sheriff John C.
Hemeyer said.

"On the outside, it may not seem like much, but people on the inside have
been killed over 6 ounces of this stuff," he said.

Cook's arrest was the result of an investigation by Missouri Department of
Corrections investigators and a local drug task force. He has been a guard
at the prison for about six years.

After his arrest, Cook provided information that led to a search warrant at
a Springfield apartment, where a man and a woman were arrested on drug
charges, Hemeyer said. The pair have not yet been charged, but authorities
claim they also smuggled marijuana into the prison.