A prison guard was arrested on Friday for attempting to smuggle drugs into the Metropolitan Transition Center, a state-run correctional facility in Baltimore City.
Twenty-two-year-old Antwan Blackwell, a guard working at the MTC, told state corrections investigators that he smuggled marijuana into the prison for an “unnamed prisoner.” The marijuana was found in Blackwell?s back pocket during a routine search. Blackwell told investigators that he was paid $100 to deliver the drugs.
Blackwell was charged with possession and possession with intent to distribute, according to charging documents, which did not specify how much marijuana was allegedly found, other than that it was in a sandwich bag.
Blackwell did not respond to a phone message and could not be reached for comment Sunday.
A source familiar with prison procedures told The Examiner that state corrections officers are required to be searched each timethey start a duty shift; however, the searches were not always done.
George Gregory, spokesman for the State Department of Corrections, confirmed that the searches are supposed to be done every time a corrections officer comes on duty. He said the matter was under investigation.
Blackwell is the second state corrections officer charged with possession of illegal drugs in under three months. In April, The Examiner reported that Michael Kemp, a captain at the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center, was arrested for possession of two vials of crack cocaine.
A trial date for Blackwell has not been set.
