Pubdate: Sat, 19 Oct 2002
Source: Brownsville Herald, The (TX)
Copyright: 2002 The Brownsville Herald
Contact: http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/sections/contact/contact.shtml
Website: http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1402
Author: Jennifer Muir

JAIL GUARD SMUGGLES DRUGS

A county jail guard was charged Thursday with smuggling marijuana to 
Cameron County inmates after admitting to supplying prisoners with the 
drug, county authorities said.

Robert Dalzell saw what it is like on the other side of wrought iron bars 
Thursday night after Justice of the Peace Oscar Tullos reprimanded the 
officer at his arraignment, and ordered him held under $25,000 bail.

"We are here to protect the inmates, and you are doing exactly what they 
did to get in here," Tullos told Dalzell. "This is a serious crime."

Tullos traveled to the Cameron County Detention Facility in Olmito to 
arraign Dalzell in a jail dining area.

The drug incident comes on the heals of three recent jail escapes and two 
riots in the last six months at county jails run by the Sheriff's Department.

The former Rivera High School athlete faces up to 10 years in prison and 
$10,000 in fines for apparently sneaking 1.25 pounds of marijuana into the 
jail and distributing it to inmates.

Guards at the county jail apparently found the drugs in an inmate's cell 
during a routine search Tuesday night, authorities said.

The inmate apparently told investigators that Dalzell had smuggled the 
contraband inside prison walls in a plastic bag, officials said.

Sheriff Conrado Cantu said Dalzell admitted to the offense during 
questioning the next day.

"I won't tolerate any of this activity in our jail," Cantu said Thursday.

Investigators, who continue to question guards and inmates, would not 
reveal how Dalzell brought drugs into the prison.

Currently, supervisors search guards when they arrive at work each day. 
Guards also undergo random drug tests, Cantu said.

Dalzell, a five-month county employee who played on Rivera's state 
playoff-bound basketball team in 1998, apparently evaded those safety measures.

While safety reforms are currently in the works, Cantu did not indicate any 
uniform revisions to jail policy Thursday.

According to county records, Dalzell worked as a security guard for 
American Investigations in Brownsville for two years before joining the 
county law enforcement agency.
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