OKEECHOBEE — A staff member at Okeechobee Correctional Institution was arrested April 3 and charged with introducing contraband into a detention facility. She was also charged with trafficking in methamphetamine.

At approximately 7 a.m. on Saturday, Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Cauley was dispatched to the prison after Captain Wells called 911 to report a staff member had been caught attempting to introduce contraband into the facility. When Cauley arrived, Wells told him Officer Amy Burney had been conducting staff check-ins when she found the contraband. Burney told him she was checking in Officer Margaret Hammond, 26, when she noticed a bag of chips in Hammond’s bag was considerably heavier than the ounces listed on the bag indicated. When the bag was opened, they found four black balls and sheets of paper which appeared to have been soaked in some type of fluid.

In her interview, Hammond reportedly gave deputies the names of two other staff members she believed were also smuggling in contraband.

Hammond’s bond was set at $150,000.