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NEWS BRIEFS
Guard charged with taking drugs, gun to jail
BARBOURSVILLE -- A 22-year-old correctional officer found himself behind bars this week, linked to the bringing of drugs and a gun onto jail property, according to criminal complaints filed in Cabell County Magistrate Court.
Nathaniel Shawn Johnson of Salt Rock was arrested Tuesday as part of a sting operation at the Western Regional Jail. He was charged with conspiracy and bringing a weapon onto jail grounds. He was incarcerated in Charleston on a $50,000 bond, but was no longer housed in the jail on Thursday.
Criminal complaints list Johnson as a correctional officer at the Western Regional Jail. He then delivered his resignation Thursday, said Mike Clark, administrator of the Western Regional Jail.
The complaints charge West Virginia State Police had received a tip, which linked Johnson to bringing drugs and tobacco into the Barboursville jail. That led investigators to set up a transaction. Undercover authorities paid Johnson $300 in exchange for him agreeing to buy and deliver tobacco and OxyContin to an inmate in the jail, the complaints said.
Johnson then was arrested upon his arrival at the jail. They found a .22 caliber rifle inside of his vehicle, the complaints charge.
