LUMBERTON — A Lumberton prison guard has resigned that position after being accused of selling tobacco to an inmate, according to Lumberton police.
Officer Vilyn Chavis, 43, of Chavis Road in Red Springs, was written a citation and released, Lumberton police Maj. Tommy Barnes said.
According to Barnes, Capt. Ronald Roush at the prison called police about 6 a.m. Wednesday.
“Apparently, Capt. Roush informed Officer [Cedrique] Bridges that he received information that Officer Chavis … was bringing tobacco into the prison and selling the tobacco to the inmates,” Barnes said.
Barnes said Roush confronted Chavis and asked if he had tobacco, and Chavis pulled two clear plastic bags of a “brown leafy substance” from his belt.
According to Keith Acree, a spokesman for the N.C. Department of Public Safety, Chavis had been employed by the prison since April.
It’s not clear if this was the first occasion that Chavis brought contraband tobacco into the prison.
“This particular tobacco we caught and he didn’t get to any inmates,” Acree said.
Acree said the department is conducting an internal investigation into the incident.
Second, this idiot does not represent the good men and women who work for the Dept. of Corrections.
Go figure.