PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - A former correctional officer is heading to prison for communicating with an inmate via a cellphone and smuggling contraband into the facility.
Escambia County State Attorney Bill Eddins said in a news release that 22-year-old Mia Martinez-Welch was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in jail.
The Pensacola News Journal reports Martinez-Welch pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a communications device to facilitate the commission of a felony and for providing contraband to the inmate.
Eddins said the charges were brought against her after the cellphone was found in the inmate’s cell at Santa Rosa Correctional Institute. Authorities say she smuggled tobacco, methamphetamine and other drugs to the inmate.
She was fired after her November 2018 arrest.
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