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Jailer charged with drug thefts

By Jared Felkins
The Times-Journal

Published July 17, 2009

Investigators charged a DeKalb County Jail corrections officer Thursday with stealing prescription medicine from inmates.

Jennifer Rhodes Johnson, 31 of Fort Payne, was charged with three counts of second-degree theft of property and 13 counts of third-degree theft of property after investigators questioned her about the missing medications. Sheriff Jimmy Harris said he accepted Johnson’s resignation after questioning. She was released a few hours later on $61,500 bond.

“We hope this incident will serve as a deterrent to any future acts of this nature because we will not tolerate this behavior,” Harris said.

Harris said Chief Jail Administrator Tony Durham made investigators aware of the missing drugs about three months ago. He said surveillance equipment was used in identifying Johnson as a suspect.

“Control measures within the jail were successful in alerting the staff to this problem,” Harris said. “It is unfortunate that a staff member was the perpetrator.

“While this is an embarrassment to our office, it should also be noted that we will not hide or cover up such activity. We are working hard to gain and keep the public trust so we hope that people will see that we are serious about our zero tolerance policy on drugs.”

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The Fort Payne Times-Journal | Publisher: J.D. Davidson

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