North Carolina detention officer accused of smuggling drugs into jail

YADKIN COUNTY, N.C. — A North Carolina detention officer is accused of helping to smuggle narcotics into a county jail, authorities said.

>> Read more trending news.

Investigators with the Yadkin County Sheriff’s Office said Wendy Kaye Nelson, 44, of Boonville,a nighttime detention officer, was involved in an inappropriate personal relationship with an inmate, WFMY reported.

According to the sheriff’s office, Nelson also allowed an inmate at the Yadkin County Detention Center, to use a cellphone. She also allegedly helped Edgar Owen Strickland, 76, of Hamptonville, and Scott Adam Strickland, 28, of Hamptonville, in the delivery of contraband and narcotics hidden in property for Christopher Cody Caudill, 33, of Hamptonville, the Winston-Salem Journal reported.

The two Stricklands and Caudill were arrested, along with Bobby Lee Davis, 42, of Yadkinville, the newspaper reported. Also arrested were Chadwick Essick, 29, of Boonville; Johnathan Yarboro, 30, of Hamptonville; Selena Calhoun, 44, of Yadkinville; Joseph Walker, 43, of Yadkinville; and Cody Parrish, 36, of Hamptonville, the newspaper reported. Brandon Strickland also was arrested, the sheriff’s office said.

According to the Journal, Nelson was charged with 10 felonies: One count each of possession of synthetic cannabinoid with intent to sell and deliver; possession of a controlled substance in the jail; commission of a sex act with an inmate by a government employee; provision of a mobile phone to an inmate; sale or delivery of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school; and five counts of conspiracy to sell and deliver a controlled substance.

Nelson posted $100,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court on May 18, WXII reported.

Cox Media Group