UPDATE: Courtney Shafer had the three delivery in jail charges and a obtaining drugs by fraud first offense charge nolle prosequi on Friday, Sept. 4. The obtaining prescription by fraud and two obtaining drugs by fraud first offense charges certified to a grand jury.
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (WAVY) — A nurse at the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail has been charged with three misdemeanors and removed from her job after allegedly bringing contraband into the facility.
Courtney E. Shafer, a jail nurse, was charged Tuesday with three counts of misdemeanor delivery of articles to committed persons, VPRJ officials said Wednesday in a news release.
The VPRJ did not specify what items Shafer brought into the jail, but officials say she allegedly gave contraband to at least one inmate.
The charges are Class 1 misdemeanors and each carries a sentence of up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine. Shafer no longer works at the VPRJ.
The investigation is ongoing, the jail said.
“To discover that an employee was involved in the kind of behavior that Shafer was engaged in is always an extreme disappointment, not just for myself, but for all of her now former co-workers,” said Superintendent Col. Roy Witham. “I want to be clear: The conduct exhibited by Shafer put the safety and security of employees and inmates alike at risk. When any employee, be they an officer, a nurse, or a civilian, makes the decision to knowingly break state law and disregard VPRJ policies and procedures in order to assist an inmate in the manner Shafer did, they are willingly putting the lives of staff and inmates in danger.”
Witham continued: “These actions are unacceptable and will not be tolerated by me, from any staff member, at any time. Correctional officers already have a difficult and stressful job. It is unconscionable that ‘one of our own’ would choose to make that job harder and more dangerous for their co-workers with the conduct we see exhibited in this case.”
