Worker at Charlotte jail accused of giving phone to someone in custody, sheriff says
A health care worker at the Mecklenburg County jail has been fired and charged with a felony after she smuggled a cellphone to a person in custody, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Samara Black, 26, worked as a discharge planner with Wellpath, the jail’s health care provider, for just under two years, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release Monday.
Jail officials opened an investigation after receiving a tip that Black was smuggling “contraband” into the jail, the release said.
Black was arrested and charged with providing a cellphone to an individual held in the jail, a felony, the release said. State law prohibits those in jail from having cellphones.
“This type of illegal activity is not tolerated by any persons working inside the detention facility and such actions only compromise the safety of the many hard working detention professionals who already face risks by the sheer nature of the profession,” Sheriff Garry McFadden said in the release.
This story was originally published August 8, 2022 at 7:52 PM.
