SC jail guard gave meth to prisoners, SLED says
A detention officer at a South Carolina jail is out of a job and facing charges after state investigators say he used his position to smuggle methamphetamine to inmates at an Upstate jail.
Zachary Keith Blanton, 23, was a detention officer with the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office when he conspired with inmates at the jail to smuggle the drug into the Pickens County Detention Center, the State Law Enforcement Division said.
He faces charges of misconduct in office, furnishing contraband to inmates, and two counts of conspiracy, according to a news release issued by SLED on Monday.
Two other people are also charged with conspiring with Blanton to distribute methamphetamine inside the jail: Susan Lynn Maready, 45, of Easley, and Dustin Allen Wilson, 33, of Pickens. Warrants identify Wilson as an inmate at the jail at the time.
According to the Pickens detention center website, Wilson was previously arrested on Oct. 17, 2018, on charges of trafficking in meth or cocaine base, and with possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
SLED agents were called in to investigate at the request of the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office. All three defendants were booked into the same county detention center where the crimes occurred.
This story was originally published August 26, 2019 at 4:05 PM.
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