Oklahoma County Sheriff foils inmates’ contraband plans

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel says jail officials have broken up a system used by two inmates to smuggle contraband into the eighth floor of the jail by lowering a rope down to the ground level.

Whetsel held a news conference Tuesday to announce that his investigators are recommending charges against the two inmates after their plot was foiled.

Whetsel believes the two inmates used some kind of nylon string to slowly saw through metal bolts and cut out glass blocks in the side of their cell. They then fashioned a braided rope out of strips of bed sheets that was long enough to reach the ground.

He says investigators believe the two used the rope to bring contraband into the jail and may also have been planning an escape.