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Gertrudis A. Reyes, 21, was charged last week with the felony of "prohibited item in a correctional facility" for bringing tobacco to an inmate while working as a civilian detention officer.

Before being arrested and charged, Reyes had resigned his job while under investigation by the HCSO Office of Inspector General. Reyes (mugshot attached) was hired in March 2013.

Reyes was released on $5,000 bail after being booked into the same jail system in which he had been employed.

Also last week a detention officer arriving for a work shift was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver as part of a scheme to pass illegally obtained prescription painkillers to an inmate or inmates. That employee was fired after his arrest.

HCSO investigators will continue to pursue any evidence of employees trying to bring contraband into the jail.

As Sheriff Adrian Garcia said last week, "Almost all of the hundreds of detention officers and deputies who secure the Harris County jail system and guard inmates follow the rules and obey the law. Many of them perform heroically while out of sight of the law-abiding public. But as a law enforcement agency, we also enforce the law against our own employees in the rare cases when they commit crimes. In the process, we build and maintain public confidence in our crucial operations."

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