CLEARFIELD, Pa. – An employee of the state prison in Houtzdale has been accused of plotting to smuggle a controlled substance into the facility.
Jacob Matthew Cartwright, 25, Clearfield, has been charged by the department of corrections with felony counts of contraband, criminal use of communication facility, and manufacture/delivery/possession with intent to deliver, along with a misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance.
During centralized court on Wednesday, Cartwright waived his right to a preliminary hearing, sending the case on to the county court.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, police received a tip from a confidential source that an inmate told her about a scheme to get contraband into the building. He explained that a text message she received from an unknown number, was from a staff member of the prison who agreed to deliver the contraband to the inmate. The message said “just need to get some stuff from my friend.”
The number provided by the source was reportedly traced to Cartwright, a corrections officer at SCI Houtzdale.
An agent posing as the civilian contacted Cartwright via text message, asking if he had spoken with the inmate recently about the contraband. He allegedly responded that he hadn’t but then followed up stating that he was expecting to receive a sheet of paper containing a controlled substance and $2,000 to deliver it. He stated that he preferred cash. A meeting was set up at a restaurant in DuBois where the transaction would occur.
Agents prepared a package with a replica contraband paper similar to the type with synthetic cannabinoids that is often used to infiltrate prisons and $2,000 in cash.
Cartwright met with the undercover agent May 15 at the agreed location where he received the package. Once the exchange was completed, other agents stationed nearby, approached Cartwright and took him into custody.
He remains incarcerated at the Clearfield County Jail in lieu of $75,000 bail.
