A medical assistant with a company that contracts to provide health care for the McClain County Jail has been arrested amid allegations of smuggling contraband into the facility.

Reports say that McClain County Sheriff Don Hewett launched an internal investigation after receiving information from inmates that the health care worker might have been bringing cell phones and controlled substances into the jail for inmates.

About a month after deputies began investigating, jail officials found a cell phone among the inmates, and brought in a forensic expert to trace the phone's origins. Sheriff Hewett said they traced the phone to Turnkey Health Clinics medical assistant Kristi Stricklen, finding "her personal cell phone number" on it.

Investigators say they executed a search warrant for Stricklen's vehicle and found a crack pipe with meth residue in her car. Hewett says when deputies questioned Stricklen about the cell phone, she "readily admitted" that she bought the phone for a jail inmate and that she has been bringing controlled substances into the jail.

Stricklen was arrested and soon released on bail.

Oklahoma law prohibits bringing or possessing contraband in a jail or penal institution in 57 O.S. § 21. The penalties of conviction depend upon the contraband item the person possesses or brings into the jail or prison, and whether or not that person has been convicted of two or more prior felony offenses.

It is a felony punishable by one to five years in prison and a fine of $100 to $1,000 to bring any of the following items into a penal institution:

  • Weapons ("any gun, knife, bomb or other dangerous instrument")
  • Drugs 
  • Liquor, beer, or "intoxicating beverages"
  • Money
  • Financial documents belonging to anyone other than the inmate or his or her spouse

Bringing a cell phone or any "electronic device capable of sending or receiving any electronic communication" is also a felony. The punishment for bringing a cell phone into a secure area of a jail or prison is a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a $2,500 fine.

Bringing any form of tobacco into a jail or prison is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of one year in jail and a fine of up to $500.