A July 10th filing by Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter against Arkansas Department of Corrections inmate Timothy Glass shows a serious problem of contraband in the state's prisons.
Glass, 59, faces six charges of "furnishing possessing using delivery prohibited articles." The offenses occurred on or about November 18, 2024, according to court documents.
The six counts include: possessing a cell phone, THC gummies, 12 meth sheets, digital scales, and two cell phone chargers.
Glass was also charged with possession of tobacco.
Past trouble
Glass was charged, and found guilty, of rape, kidnapping and commercial burglary in Miller County in 2012, according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections website.
That wasn't Glass' first time in trouble.
In 1993 he was charged with burglary and theft of property in Columbia County, according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections website.
Glass has a long list of "major guilty disciplinary violations" in prison including previous possessions/manufactures of contraband, provoking or agitating a fight, threats to inflict injury, setting a fire or tampering with fire detection, destruction of property, lying to staff and refusal to submit to drug testing.
ASP 2024 Summary
In the Arkansas State Police summary attached to the filing by Hunter, it states that on Monday, November 18, 2024, at approximately 2:40 p.m., Arkansas Department Corrections (ADC) personnel at the Cummins Unit conducted "routine pat searches."
That's when personnel found "a Samsung Galaxy cellular
phone that was in the left sleeve of Glass' shirt."
Glass was placed in hand restraints as the search continued. ADC personnel discovered:
- Approximately 94.57
grams of loose tobacco - Approximately 72.29 grams of gummies (that field
tested positive for Marijuana - (12) sheets of paper that was wrapped in plastic that appeared to be soaked in some type of liquid that later field
tested positive for Cocaine and Methamphetamine - One set of digital scales
- Two cell phone chargers.
Glass refused a drug test and "was escorted to the infirmary for pre-lock assessment and later escorted to restrictive housing."
A major disciplinary report was filed. However, the report states, "there was no video footage available."
Contraband Problems
The Reckoning asked Rand Champion, chief of communications for the Arkansas Department of Corrections, about contraband problems in the prison system.
"Regarding contraband in Arkansas, it is a constant battle that our officers and personnel battle every day," Champion wrote in an email. "There are numerous ways that contraband makes its way inside prison as those looking to get it inside get more and more creative. Drones, drops, mail systems, visitors and other ways are some of the many ways it makes its way inside. Unfortunately, officers have also aided that at times.
"The Department uses numerous ways to try and combat the issue, everything from daily checks to canine teams to advanced technology. As the manners to get contraband inside the prisons become more advanced and creative, so too are the ways to try and combat it."
