PORT ANGELES — Clallam County jail officials said an inmate smuggled marijuana into the jail last week.
Johnathon M. Laine, 33, found the marijuana while a working on a chain gang work detail Friday morning and shared it that evening with at least one other occupant in his living unit, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Corrections deputies detected the smell of marijuana in the chain gang housing area and found the pot inside a trash can and a marijuana pipe in a light fixture.
A cigarette lighter was recovered later.
Sheriff’s operations personnel, a U.S. Border Patrol agent and a canine unit assisted corrections deputies in their search.
Strip-searched after work detail
Chain gang inmates are strip-searched after returning from all work details in an effort to detect the movement of contraband, jail officials said.
“In this instance, the contraband was not discovered during the search, and Laine was able to introduce the marijuana into the jail,” officials said in a news release.
Laine, who was booked into the jail Oct. 23 for investigation of possession of methamphetamine and criminal trespass, may face new charges for the introduction of contraband into a correctional facility, the Sheriff’s Office said.
He had not been charged with bringing pot into the jail as of Thursday.
