Jason Futch
reporter2.riverbendnews@gmail.com
A Suwannee Correctional Institute (SCI) trainee has been arrested by the Columbia County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) Multijurisdictional Drug Task Force (MDTF) after a joint investigation with the Gainesville-Alachua County Drug Task Force (GACDTF).
According to a press release by CCSO, with additional information provided in an arrest report, 28-year-old Lake City resident Jakaleb Cahree Thomas was arrested by task force investigators on Thursday, March 6 after the CCSO MDTF received information from a United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) investigator. Thomas is a correctional officer trainee at Suwannee Correctional Institute (SCI).
The DEA investigator informed CCSO Investigator Shane Hartopp that the GACTDF had seized 42 grams of methamphetamine as well as 211 grams of marijuana that were packaged and wrapped tightly in duct tape and concealed within a yellow grocery style bag from an informant in Alachua County. According to the report, Inv. Hartopp explained that, through his training, the concealment method was regularly used to smuggle contraband into prisons.
The narcotics that the DEA intercepted were revealed to be delivered to Thomas’s residence in Lake City. The arrest report further revealed that two confidential informants were being used in the case and were fully cooperating with authorities. One of the informants said that the drugs had to be delivered to Thomas’s home before 4 p.m. when she was set to drive to work. However, that did not take place due to the interception by the DEA.
Instead, a controlled delivery of the drugs took place after she had left for work. One of the informants placed the drugs, which were in their original wrapping, in a trash can outside of Thomas's home in Lake City while a Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) airplane oversaw the delivery. Meanwhile, a team from the MDTF, GACDTF and DEA conducted surveillance at SCI.
After the delivery was made, an informant contacted Thomas about the delivery, and she left work early, which was observed by the surveillance team. The ground team surveilled her, making stops at a Lake City gas station and picking up her child from a babysitter's house. When she arrived home, the FHP airplane saw Thomas go into the trash can to retrieve the drugs. It was then that the FHP pilot notified the ground units, which converged on her home and made the arrest.
After being read her Miranda Rights, Thomas initially denied her involvement in the case. However, upon receiving information about the case, she began to cooperate, stating that an inmate paid her $300 to receive the drugs at her home and bring them to the prison. She said she wasn't going to bring them into the institution, but ultimately confessed that she was planning to get the narcotics into the prison herself by placing the drugs inside of her or trying to conceal them under her stomach. Thomas allowed Inv. Hartopp to inspect her text messages with the informant, which verified the drug deal that was to take place.
Officers with the Lake City Police Department were then ordered to detain Thomas, transporting her to the Columbia County Jail in Lake City, where she is being charged with trafficking more than 14 grams of meth, possessing controlled substances without a prescription, and public order crimes. She is being held on a $330,000 bond.
The press release did not share how long Thomas had been employed at SCI, and this information was not available at press time.
CCSO thanked the Alachua County Sheriff's Office, Gainesville Police Department, FHP, Lake City Police Department, Florida Department of Corrections Office of Inspector General, and the DEA for their participation in apprehending Thomas.