East Texas

From Staff Reports

LONGVIEW - A Gregg County Jail officer was arrested Monday for having illegal drugs in the North jail facility, Gregg County Sheriff's officials reported.

Lt. Mike Claxton, public information officer, said 21-year-old Eric Sanders, of Kilgore, was under investigation by the Gregg County Organized Drug Enforcement Unit after CODE agents found out Sanders had been delivering unauthorized contraband to jail inmates.

CODE officers arrested Sanders Monday and he remains in custody at the Gregg County Jail. He was charged with having a prohibited substance in a correctional facility - a third-degree felony - and was arraigned on Wednesday by Justice of the Peace B.H. Jameson. Jameson set Sanders' bond at $1,500.

Sanders began working for the Sheriff's Department in October and was assigned to the North jail facility, Claxton said.

"This is an investigation that unfortunately involved a detention officer," said Sheriff Maxey Cerliano in a prepared statement. "I believe our record is very clear on how our employees are expected to perform their duties."

Cerliano said an internal investigation took place after Sanders' arrest, and Sanders was fired as a result.

"We will continue to impose standards that are within the philosophy and mission of the sheriff's office," he said. "Those employees who do the wrong thing are dealt with like any standard suspect or defendant would be."