Two Oklahoma County jailers arrested, fired after contraband smuggling investigation

Two detention officers at the Oklahoma County jail have been fired after being accused of smuggling contraband in to inmates.

Kaylyn Crawford, 20, and Xzavier Nicholson, 19, were arrested Wednesday, the jail said. Both live in Oklahoma City.

"These two former employees betrayed the trust placed in them ... and undermine the safety and security of our residents and staff,” Brandi Garner, the CEO of the Oklahoma County Detention Center, said in a news release Thursday. "We take our duty to uphold the integrity of this facility very seriously."

The arrests came from a joint operation involving jail trust investigators, the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control, according to the news release.

Crawford is accused of smuggling marijuana and tobacco into inmate Blake Hill, a trust investigator told a judge in an affidavit for his arrest. He was hired on July 31, 2023.

Hill had the detention officer's personal phone number on slips of paper, according to the affidavit. Hill, 21, is charged with first-degree murder.

Nicholson is accused of smuggling an electronic vape device and a cell phone to inmate Scout French, the investigator reported in an affidavit for his arrest. He was hired in October.

Nicholson was seen on video surveillance passing a brown paper bag to French twice this month, according to the affidavit. French, 22, is charged with drug trafficking

Crawford and Nicholson could not be reached Thursday for comment.

More: Judge asked to ban surprise health inspections at Oklahoma County jail

The multicounty grand jury that investigated the jail reported last year that "one of the most significant issues observed ... is the inability of the administration ... to properly staff the jail with experienced employees."

The arrests come as the jail is in a heated legal battle with the Oklahoma State Department of Health over inspections. The trust overseeing the jail has asked an Oklahoma County judge to permanently block health inspectors from conducting surprise inspections. A hearing is set for October.

In a response Monday, the Health Department told the judge about the multiple problems uncovered by inspectors since the trust took over on July 1, 2020. "As many of the items subject to inspection must be observed in real time, the Jail apparently wishes to reduce these inspections to vain acts," attorneys wrote in the response.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Two Oklahoma County jailers arrested, fired after contraband smuggling investigation