(Stillwater, Okla.) – A Cushing prison visitor has been charged with bringing marijuana into the Cimarron Correctional Facility on Aug. 7.
Ashley Zenola Fraser, 31, of Oklahoma City, remains free on $7,500 bail pending a Sept. 11 court appearance on the felony charge.
Fraser was arrested at the Cushing prison shortly after 5 p.m. on Aug. 7 by Cushing Police Officer Jonathan Hall, court records show.
Cimarron Correctional Facility Investigator Joseph Sebenick said that when Fraser and another woman arrived in the prison lobby to visit two inmates, “they began acting strangely,” Hall wrote in his affidavit.
Sebenick said that “when Fraser passed through the metal detector, it kept signaling that she had metal on her,” the affidavit alleged.
After Fraser told staff that she had a piercing, she “was asked to remove the piercing and pass through the metal detector successfully before she would be authorized to enter for her visit,” the affidavit said.
“Fraser went to the female bathroom in the lobby of the CCA (Corrections Corporation of America) facility to remove the piercing,” the affidavit said.
Prison staff said that the two women “were whispering to each other during this time which caused suspicion that contraband was attempting to be introduced into the facility,” the affidavit said.
After Fraser left the bathroom, a prison guard “discovered an item in the trash can that appeared to be contraband,” wrapped tightly with black electrical tape and containing a cell phone as well as a green leafy substance, the affidavit alleged.
Fraser told the Cushing officer that she rode to the prison with the other woman who was not arrested, court records show.
“Fraser said once they arrived and before exiting the vehicle, (the other woman) told her to hide the item found by prison staff and carry it inside the facility,” the affidavit alleged.
“Fraser told me that she did not know she was doing anything wrong and did not believe (the other woman) would ask her to perform an illegal act. “Fraser said she hid this item inside her pants and entered the facility,” but when she walked through the metal detector, it signaled she had metal on her, the affidavit alleged.
“Fraser said she did not know the items that were wrapped up inside the black electrical tape,” but said she got scared and told staff she had a piercing, the affidavit alleged.
“Fraser told me that she went to the lobby bathroom and removed this item discarding it in the trash can,” the Cushing officer wrote in his affidavit.
“Fraser said after this, she was allowed to enter the area for visitation, but was stopped by prison staff and requested to speak with them while she was at the vending machine,” with the other woman, the affidavit alleged.
Fraser claimed that the other woman, who was not charged with any crime, “had an item inside her similar to what she had carried into the facility,” the affidavit alleged.
When the Cushing officer again spoke to the other woman, she said “she did not have any contraband concealed,” the affidavit said.
She declined to be searched by a female prison guard with the explanation that she was on her period and it would be embarrassing to be searched, the affidavit said.
The Cushing officer photographed the cell phone and two bags of a green leafy substance that field-tested as marijuana, the affidavit said.
If convicted of bringing contraband into the Cushing prison, Fraser could be incarcerated for five years and fined $1,000, court records show.
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