Contractor faces felony charges after allegedly providing inmate with iPhone in Alexandria jail

A contractor has been prohibited from returning to the city jail for work and will be charged with a Class 6 felony for allegedly providing an inmate with an iPhone, Sheriff Sean Casey confirmed to ALXnow.

The former contract employee, a female, worked in the kitchen of the detention center. She admitted “in April 2023, she smuggled an iPhone into the detention center and provided it to an inmate,” the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office said in a recently released search warrant affidavit.

“She (the contractor) stated that she did this at the request of an inmate, and that the phone that she brought into the facility was provided to her by an unknown conspirator of the inmate,” ASO said in the search warrant affidavit.

The phone was found on Aug. 8 by another contractor inside a box in the cafeteria, according to the search warrant affidavit.

Casey said that, due to this incident, contract workers are now subject to “enhanced screening” before entering the jail.

“We take any potential breach of security very seriously and preventing any contraband, including cell phones, from coming into the jail is always a priority,” Casey told ALXnow. “There have been two cases of cell phones illegally being given to inmates in the past three years, but overall, such cases are rare in Alexandria.”

The former contractor has not been arrested and faces a felony charge of “illegal conveyance or possession of cellular telephone or other wireless telecommunications device by prisoner,” which is punishable by one-to-five years in prison and up to a $2,500 fine.

Casey said that the contractor was “immediately prohibited from returning to her position at the detention center,” and that inmates “found to be involved will be subject to criminal charges and administrative discipline.”