Prison guard arrested

Published 8:38 am Tuesday, October 18, 2011

WINDSOR – A North Carolina Department of Correction Officer assigned to a Bertie County facility has found herself on the wrong side of the law.

Omni Johnson, 22, of Southern Avenue in Elizabeth City was arrested Saturday morning at the Bertie Correctional Institute, a maximum security state prison located off Cooper Hill Road.

Windsor Police Detective Matt Roebuck was called to the prison at approximately 6:30 a.m. Saturday where he met with the Officer in Charge.

“He informed me that a guard had been found with a cell phone and several packages,” Roebuck said. “When I opened the packages I discovered a green plant material consistent with marijuana.”

Roebuck said the six packages combined contained more than one pound of marijuana. Johnson was also discovered to have three cell phones in her lunch package.

Following the investigation, Johnson was charged with five felonies. They include possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver a schedule six narcotic, felony possession of a schedule six narcotic, possession of a controlled substance in a jail/prison, maintaining a vehicle or place to keep a controlled substance and felony conspiracy to sell and deliver a controlled substance.

She was also charged with a misdemeanor of providing an electronic device to an inmate.

Johnson was placed in the Bertie-Martin Regional Jail under a $250,000 cash bond. She will make her first appearance on Thursday.

Roebuck said the investigation is on-going and additional charges are likely.