Lincoln County Detention Center employee fired for giving phone to inmate: Sheriff

LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C. ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — An employee with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office has been terminated and charged after she was found giving a phone to an inmate.

On Sept. 6, officers noticed an inmate, 28-year-old Christopher Roy Bell, had a cell phone which he hid in his cell. Detectives learned that a detention officer, identified as 30-year-old Jocelyn Mari Santiago, reportedly gave the device to Bell.

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Officials said that while searching the phone, they learned that Bell and Santiago developed a personal relationship. Both Bell and Santiago admitted to their involvement while being interviewed.

Santiago was booked under a $2,500 unsecured bond for furnishing a controlled substance (cell phone) to an inmate. Her employment with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Detention Center has been terminated.

Bell is charged with possession of a mobile device in a detention center. Documents show he was booked on March 14, 2024, under a $25,000 bond for trafficking opium or heroin, fugitive from justice, possession of heroin, and drug paraphernalia.

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