Five charged in jail contraband case

Five parish inmates have been charged after a video showed up on social media filmed inside the St. Mary Parish jail.
Sheriff Mark Hebert said his office was notified about the video Thursday afternoon. In it, inmates reportedly possessed contraband.
A search of the jail was immediately conducted, Hebert said. All of the contraband items seen in the pictures and video were confiscated including cell phones.
Arrested were Quintal Davis, 34, Morgan City; Jonathan Robinson, 34, Franklin; Spencer Bourda, 23, Franklin; Michael Crouch, 28, Morgan City; and Joseph Lightfoot, 42, Franklin.
They were charged with possessing contraband in penal institutions prohibited. Detectives are continuing to pursue information and leads being developed in this case. The investigation is ongoing.
KLFY 10 first reported a video that goes on for three minutes and 38 seconds with inmates yelling expletives and what appeared to be threats. An inmate is seen in one of the videos apparently talking on a cell phone as he lies partly concealed in a bunk bed. Another inmate was holding up a substance inside a plastic wrap.
A video shown on the KATC web site shows five inmates, some in sagging pants and at least one repeatedly grabbing the area of his crotch, singing and dancing while a voice, apparently from the person filming the party-like occasion, hummed a beat and encouraged the group. Toward the conclusion of the video segment KATC posted, an inmate is heard repeating “I am high” a couple of times.
Hebert said the jail does not have regulations on how inmates wear their clothes except to say that they must wear them.
Photos posted on the KATC website show inmates holding about three-foot long sticks with the appearance of a mop handle; some posed in a threatening posture. Two photos show a wrapped shank similar to a screw driver. Another photo shows two inmates posed in aggressive postures with one holding a stick to the head of the other who is holding an object to the neck of the man with the stick.
KLFY reported that one picture of an inmate apparently posing with a cell phone in the jail yard is dated May 8.
Hebert said the investigation into when photos or video were taken is ongoing.
Fighting the introduction of contraband, including cell phones with video capabilities, is something law enforcement officials are fighting across the country, Hebert said. There is technology to scramble cell phone signals but that technology is rendered useless because federal law makes it illegal to do so, he said.
“This is a major concern because it becomes a security issue,” Hebert said. “We take this very seriously. … It is a real challenge. … We conduct shakedowns every day. There are times we catch contraband before it gets into the facility. You get frustrated at times but you just don’t quit.”