Three inmates in the Sharp County Detention Center have received additional charges after an officer, serving as a jailer discovered paraphernalia inside the facility.
According to a series of affidavits filed March 22, Deputy Austin Carpenter was working in the jail when he heard something slamming on the floor.
As he went to investigate, he noticed items being thrown from one pod to an inmate in another area.
Approaching the doorway, Carpenter could smell paper burning. Conducting a quick search, Carpenter recovered the items being used to transport paraphernalia between units.
A string, small booklet and lithium battery used in most communication devices were recovered.
A battery was found in the possession of 27-year-old Aaron Riviere. When reviewing the video surveillance footage, Riviere was seen rolling a cigarette and using a battery to light it.
Riviere was charged with one count furnishing, possessing or using prohibited articles, a class B felony; furnishing, possessing or using prohibited articles, a class C felony and misdemeanor possession of instrument of crime.
Also charged are 27-year-old Zach Arnold and 32-year-old Preston Tyler French.
Arnold’s charges of furnishing, possessing or using prohibited articles, a class B felony and misdemeanor possession of instrument of crime come after camera footage showed him retrieve a sock from French believed to hold a lithium battery.
Moments later, Arnold and French could be seen passing the sock and a booklet to Riviere.
French’s Charges of furnishing, possessing or using prohibited articles, a class B felony and misdemeanor possession of instrument of crime come after camera footage showed him French take a City Teleicoin tablet to the bathroom area, leaving the tablet until later in the day. French had removed the battery from the tablet to be used by Riviere to light the cigarette he had rolled.
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