Nursing assistant charged with smuggling drugs, cash into Nashville prison

Alicia Patton
·2 min read
1

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A nursing assistant is behind bars after she is accused of smuggling drugs and cash inside a Nashville prison.

According to court documents, a TDOC agent responded to the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center on Monday, April 8 to interview 39-year-old Chinika Lamb.

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During an interview, officials said she admitted that she had been contacted by a man to pick up a package, which contained approximately 2.4 ounces of methamphetamine, 100 buprenorphine strips and $1,500 in cash.

Authorities reported Lamb met the man around 10:30 a.m. Monday in the 7000 block of Centennial Place to pick up the drugs and cash.

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Court documents stated she was paid $140.00 in cash, from the original $1,500, to bring the items into the prison.

Lamb admitted to bringing the drugs and cash into the prison at approximately 11 a.m. by placing the items inside a food container and hiding them in a linen closet inside a box of toilet paper, officials said.

The items were later recovered and processed as evidence. Lamb was then taken into custody.

She was charged with the introduction of contraband into a penal institution and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver — both of which are felony charges.

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In a statement to News 2, a spokesperson for Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) clarified Lamb was a contracted worker.

The person arrested is not a TDOC employee but worked for a contractor. The introduction of contraband is an evolving threat every correctional agency in the world faces, however the Tennessee Department of Correction continues to take a proactive approach and has a zero-tolerance policy for anyone who attempts to introduce it into our facilities.

TDOC uses numerous methods to detect and prevent contraband from entering our facilities.

Anyone entering a TDOC facility is required to abide by security protocols which includes the use of body scanners, metal detectors, x-ray machines and other measures.

Additionally, TDOC’s Contraband Interdiction Unit works closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement to detect and disrupt the flow of contraband, and our K9 Unit and Special Operations Team regularly perform proactive searches of parking lots and facilities to locate and remove anything that may pose a threat to the safety and security of staff and inmates

Tennessee Department of Correction

Lamb remains jailed on a $60,000 bond.

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