A Bowie County Correctional Center correctional officer was arrested by Bowie County Sheriff’s Office for allegedly attempting to smuggle tobacco and marijuana into the jail.
According to Bowie County Sheriff’s Office Cheif Deputy Jeff Neal on April 21, 2015 around 12:03 am Correctional Officer Matthew Lee Newman who is 19 years of age from Hooks, Texas was returning to work at the Bowie County Correctional Center located at 105 West Front Street Texarkana, Texas from a break. Correctional Officer Melanie Franklin who was working in the front lobby of the correctional center conducted a search of Officer Newman prior to him reentering the facility.
According to Neal during this search, Officer Franklin noticed that Officer Newman was carrying an open bag of Cheetos Puffs and asked to look in the bag. Inside the chip bag Officer Franklin could see a purple object at the bottom of the bag. The bag of Cheetos was emptied onto a paper towel and an object wrapped in purple duct tape fell out. Officer Franklin immediately notified her supervisors who found that this object contained tobacco and marijuana.
Bowie County Deputy Chris Sutherland was called to the Bowie County Correctional Center where he arrested Officer Newman for Prohibited Substance in a Correctional Facility. Officer Newman was booked into the Bi-State Jail where his bond was later set at $15,000.00 by Judge Nancy Talley.
