Jail guard facing charges

A new corrections officer became a new inmate for smuggling marijuana into the jail.

By D.A. WILKINSON

VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU

LISBON — The Columbiana County Drug Task Force is continuing its investigation after a corrections officer was arrested and charged with smuggling marijuana into the jail.

Dan Downard, the head of the task force, said Tuesday that a new jailer was arrested early Saturday at the jail.

According to the task force, more than one corrections officer may be involved.

The drug task force has been investigating drug and tobacco use at the jail for about a year. The jail prohibits tobacco use.

The corrections officer, Nathaniel Barnes, 28, of Neosho Road, Youngstown, was charged with one felony count of illegal conveyance of prohibited items onto the grounds of a detention facility. The charge is a third-degree felony, according to Downard. The crime carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison on conviction.

Barnes had a video arraignment in county municipal court by video from the county jail. His bond was set at $10,000.

He will have a hearing at 1 p.m. Feb. 2 to determine if his felony case will be bound over to the grand jury.

Barnes worked as a corrections officer at the jail since October 2007.

Downard said Barnes tried to smuggle about one ounce of suspected marijuana into the jail.

“Depending on the quality, it could bring $170 to $200 on the streets,” Downard said. In jail, an ounce of marijuana could bring almost double that amount, he added.

Downard said he has heard that inmates would pay $1 to $2 for one tobacco cigarette.

The drug task force, the sheriff’s office, which is part of the jail complex, CiviGenics and the U.S. Postal Service took part in the investigation.

Downard said he couldn’t give details of the Postal Service’s involvement because of the continuing investigation. He said the Postal Service was involved because either the money or the suspected marijuana had been in the mail at some point.

The county jail is run by CiviGenics, a private company, of Milford, Mass., which was bought by Community Education Centers Inc. of New Jersey last year. Peter Argeropulos, the company’s chief operating officer, issued a statement Tuesday that it was in the process of terminating Barnes’ employment.

wilkinson@vindy.com