Two Shakedowns at the Jackie Brannon Dairy Farm Produces Cellphones, Tobacco and Marijuana

MCALESTER – Two shakedowns performed by correctional officers and two K-9s at the Jackie Brannon Correctional Center (JBCC) dairy farm led authorities to a sizeable contraband haul. 

During the first search, performed on Dec. 14, officials found five duffel bags containing 57 cellphone chargers, 35 cellphones, four portable battery chargers, three ear pieces, one handheld satellite radio, two syringes, four books of rolling papers, six lighters, a one gallon bag of coffee, 170 grams of chewing tobacco and 3.5 pounds of smoking tobacco. 

Officials also found a hole in a cinder block wall covered by a mirror. It was determined the inmates cut a hole in the cinder block to conceal contraband until their shift at the farm was over and would then take the items back to the prison. Two cellphones and several cellphone chargers were in the wall at the time of the search. 

The second search, on Dec. 19, was on request of the farm manager in an attempt to find where the items were coming from and gauge how fast the inmates were able to obtain contraband on the farm. 

The search led to another duffel bag concealed in the ceiling. The bag contained two cellphones, seven cellphone chargers, 5.9 pounds of tobacco and 51.48 grams of marijuana. 

“I appreciate the officers who were able to confiscate the contraband before the items were able to make it into the prison,” said Corrections Director Joe M. Allbaugh. “Contraband items in prison pose a serious threat to the safety and security of an institution. The inmates who are allowed to work on the farm will be reevaluated and potentially stripped of this privilege. The inmates found with the contraband will receive write-ups, which may result in time added to their sentences.”

Allbaugh said another concern is some of the inmates who work on the farm also work at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary that is approximately a half-mile from JBCC. The inmates at JBCC may have been trying to smuggle the contraband into OSP. 

The inmates who were working on the farm at the time of the seizure will be interviewed and investigated. 

In a further effort to halt contraband, the procedures of how the inmates are monitored while on duty at the farm have changed. 

A mirror at the Jackie Brannon dairy farm was being used to cover a hole 
inmates cut in a cinder block wall to hide contraband.

Contraband found during a shakedown at the Jackie Brannon dairy farm.

More contraband found during the shakedown of the Jackie Brannon dairy farm.